Merlin
by JoKing
Summary: AU. Destiny and the future, can we change them? RR
1. The Beginning

Chapter One  
  
"I am sorry. I have given you, what I always regretted having," the old man said quietly, looking at the child sleeping on the doorstep.  
  
He had watched the frantic woman drop the baby off and he felt sad, for he'd seen her future, but then again, he'd seen everyone's future.  
  
He looked down at the bundle and remembered the day when he'd found out what he was and the conversation he'd had with his teacher.  
  
***  
  
"My dear boy, you are different from most, your mother was a witch and your father was a demon. This sets you apart from the rest and it is this difference that will give you, your gift. It will appear when you are 16, because it is then that you are in the middle ground. At this age, you are no longer a child but you are not an adult and it is at this time, that there is a gap, a way in. You still have the child's openness to the world, but you also have an adult's perspective. You do not have an easy life ahead and neither will those that inherit your blood," his teacher had said.  
  
"Then I shall never have children," he had answered.  
  
"Your gift is not a curse but it is not a blessing either. It is part of who and what you are." "But I don't want to be, what I am," he'd screamed. He remembered his teacher flinching at the sound of his voice.  
  
"Never say that. You are what you are."  
  
"Fine, I am what I am. But I will not curse my family for it," he'd yelled, his frustration growing. How young and stubborn, he'd been.  
  
"The magic in your blood will not appear in every descendant of yours. But will only appear in those that are worthy of it," his teacher had replied softly, rocking gently in his chair.  
  
***  
  
"Be safe, until we meet again," the man said quietly and ran a finger down the child's cheek before vanishing, leaving no clue that he'd ever been there, ever existed, because that is the way of a Merlin.  
  
***  
  
As the day hit her window, Gwen felt better.  
  
She'd had the dream again, the one where she was standing in front of someone, who, she could never make out. All she knew was that there was a lot of pain and suffering surrounding her. In one hand she held a small dagger and in the other, a long wooden stick.  
  
Then softly she whispered, "goodbye," plunging the blade into her chest and then.. She always woke up at this point.  
  
Gwen felt the spot where she'd stabbed herself and felt safe in the knowledge that it was just a dream.  
  
"Gwen! Breakfast!" Carrie Whitely called from downstairs.  
  
"Back to reality, back to life," she thought to herself.  
  
Gwen slowly drew back the covers and dragged herself out of bed; she then slowly walked down the stairs to have breakfast, quickly forgetting about her dream.  
  
"What we got to eat then?" Gwen said, falling into a chair at the kitchen table.  
  
"Is that all you ever think about?" Annabelle said, giving her a fake smile.  
  
"Well, it beats fashion and boys, any day," Gwen replied, flashing her teeth back at her.  
  
Although, Gwen and Annabelle were the same age, they were worlds apart.  
  
Annabelle was blonde with big blue eyes and only concerned herself with whatever was fashionable.  
  
Gwen on the other hand had dark hair and dark eyes and concerned herself with whatever was not fashionable.  
  
"Come on you two," Carrie said firmly, bringing two plates of eggs and bacon over.  
  
"You know, the way you two carry on, you could be sisters," she continued.  
  
"Aren't we meant to be?" Gwen questioned.  
  
"Yeah, but we're not and never will be, ever," Annabelle said viciously, staring at Gwen.  
  
Miss Whitely sighed heavily, brushing her silver hair out of the way.  
  
"No talking like that now, Annabelle."  
  
"Whatever," Gwen said, stuffing the remaining pieces of her breakfast into her mouth and getting up.  
  
"Where you going?" Carrie asked, worried that Annabelle's comment might have upset her.  
  
"Upstairs, to read," she replied coldly, walking out of the room.  
  
Gwen slowly walked back up the stairs and in the distance could hear Annabelle's voice, screeching, "she's always reading. What a sad girl. I mean it's the summer holidays, you would think."  
  
Then the abrupt, "ssshh." from Carrie.  
  
"Just another 3 years of her. Then you can leave," Gwen said out loud.  
  
But where would she go?  
  
She didn't have any parents, family, the only thing that she had, was a big fat nothing.  
  
Gwen Aldan had been dropped off at "Little Woods Orphanage," when she was just 2 years old. She was left by a young woman who said nothing except what the baby's name was.  
  
Then she made a quick exit without saying another word.  
  
All she left with Gwen was a birth certificate, a blanket and a necklace.  
  
Gwen then had spent about another year and half there, before she'd been sent to live with Carrie Whitely and Annabelle.  
  
Carrie was a social worker who had dedicated her life to children but had ironically never found the time to stop and have any of her own. However, Carrie didn't really mind, she adored Gwen and Annabelle. they were her life.  
  
Annabelle Strande was also an orphan but much less concerned about it than Gwen.  
  
She adored the idea that she was alone in the world, that she was unique; she said it would go wonderfully in her autobiography when she was rich and famous.  
  
Gwen often laughed at this whenever Annabelle would mention it. Annabelle however didn't find it quite as funny.  
  
So, it had been like this for 15 years, just the three of them, an unconventional family. But this was about to change.  
  
Gwen clutched the necklace in her hands, the only thing that she had of her parents.  
  
It was made of silver and at the end of the chain hung the eternity symbol. She had always wondered what her parents had meant by leaving her this, maybe that she'd be eternally loved or maybe, that she'd be eternally alone.  
  
As thoughts of her parents entered her head, she quickly pushed them to the back of her mind, and instead engrossed herself in the world of Jane Austen.  
  
***  
  
"We have to go tonight," Maggie said loudly, slamming the rolling pin onto the table.  
  
"We can't," Alfred said bluntly, fiddling with his fishing rod.  
  
"But.we've already done so much already. Why not finish it?" Maggie pleaded.  
  
"No. Not yet." Alfred said firmly, pretending to cast. "Damn rod," he muttered, throwing it onto the floor.  
  
"I think we should go," Nancy said, looking up at the other two.  
  
"I've said no," Alfred said, louder this time.  
  
"And I said yes," She replied softly, gazing into the old man's eyes.  
  
"But." Alfred began but thinking better of it, stopped.  
  
He looked at the two women and sighed deeply before collapsing into his chair.  
  
Maggie smirked and began to make the final preparations while Nancy simply hummed, wondering if the weather would improve.  
  
***  
  
"Are you sure, you don't want to come with us?" Carrie asked, placing a hand on Gwen's shoulder.  
  
"Nah. I just want to hang here. Have some quiet," she replied, smiling back warmly at the old woman, who had cared for her for the past 15 years.  
  
"Come on, let's go! Otherwise, we'll miss the trailers!" Annabelle called, tapping her foot. "Ok, love," Carrie called back. "Got the number?"  
  
"Yes. Go, before Annabelle blows her top," Gwen said, pushing her out the door.  
  
"Ok. Bye, dear," the old woman said, giving Gwen a kiss on the cheek.  
  
"Bye." Gwen called, before walking back into the house.  
  
As she closed the door, Gwen suddenly felt scared, scared that she'd never see Carrie again but as soon as the emotion was felt, it disappeared again, leaving Gwen feeling slightly confused.  
  
"Hmmm... What to do?" she said out loud, "TV? Reading? Food? Decisions, decisions." she walked into the kitchen and fell into a wooden chair.  
  
As Gwen peered round her kitchen, she suddenly heard the familiar whistling of the kettle.  
  
Funny, I don't remember putting it on, Gwen thought to herself.  
  
As she walked over to the stove, she smelt a rich chocolate smell and standing on the counter was her red mug filled with chocolate powder.  
  
"Hmm.Carrie must have left it for me," Gwen thought to herself, as she poured the hot milk into her cup.  
  
As Gwen looked into the mug and breathed in the rich aroma, she felt so happy, with this thought in mind, she greedily drank the warm liquid.  
  
"Mmmm." she hummed, as she placed the mug in the sink and began walking towards the lounge.  
  
Then for no reason, Gwen suddenly felt sleepy and her eyelids started to close then with a final yawn, she tumbled onto the couch in front of the warm fire.  
  
"Sleep..." Gwen mumbled softly, before closing her eyes and going into a deep slumber.  
  
***  
  
"Is she asleep?" Nancy whispered, cautiously coming out from behind the lounge door and walking towards the sleeping girl.  
  
"I think so," Maggie answered, looking at Gwen with an inquisitive stare.  
  
"Ok. Quickly now," Alfred said, picking up the sleeping child and walking towards the fire.  
  
"Oh, it's so exciting," Maggie squealed, tiptoeing around the room like a prima-ballerina, her black cloak streaming behind her.  
  
"Maggie! Stop that!" Alfred shouted.  
  
"Ssshh.You'll wake the child," Nancy said sharply.  
  
"Sorry," Alfred said, smiling weakly. "Now, where's the Floo Powder?" he asked, turning to Maggie.  
  
"Umm.here," she replied, taking out a purple velvet pouch and tossing it gently towards Alfred, who tried to catch it with one hand but missed.  
  
The pouch fell onto the ground, spilling some of its contents.  
  
"Maggie!" Alfred said loudly.  
  
"Sorry, sorry," Maggie mumbled, rushing forward and scooping the powder back into the bag except for a small amount which she threw into the fire.  
  
This caused the fire to flare up and turn a bright emerald colour.  
  
"Here, you can take the child," Alfred said, unloading Gwen into Maggie's arms who took a step back, not used to the weight.  
  
"But.Alfred.I wanted." Maggie whined.  
  
"No Maggie. This is too important, you'll fudge it up," Alfred replied firmly, pushing Maggie towards the fireplace.  
  
"Fine. Alfred Arthur, you were always a spoilsport," Maggie said, before turning to face the flames.  
  
"Scarlett Wood," she said in a clear voice, before walking into the fire with Gwen.  
  
"Nancy, you go get her belongings and I'll do the photographs and other things," Alfred said, walking towards the mantle piece and picking up the family portrait.  
  
He shoved a hand into his robes and pulled out his wand. He tapped the frame with it and said in a clear voice, "Eraderemus."  
  
Alfred's arm tingled; he hadn't used magic for so long. Gwen's figure in the picture started to fade and soon, it was gone, leaving the smiling faces of Annabelle and Carrie in the picture.  
  
"Now, for the others," Alfred said, walking out of the room. 


	2. Scarlett Wood

Chapter Two  
  
Dawn hit Scarlett Wood and the inhabitants were awake. Well. almost all of them.  
  
"Isn't she awake yet?" Nancy said, rocking gently in her chair with her sewing in her hands.  
  
"Not yet," Maggie replied, stirring the mixture that was in her bowl.  
  
"How much sleeping drug did you put in it?" Alfred replied, turning the page of his "Daily Prophet."  
  
"Umm.a teaspoon, I think, or was it 1 tablespoon?"  
  
"TABLESPOON!" Alfred yelled, leaping out of his seat. " That would put the girl out for a week!"  
  
"Oh dear.I'm pretty sure it was a teaspoon."  
  
"I.I." Alfred muttered, too angry to speak.  
  
"Calm down, dear," Nancy said, soothingly. " I'm sure it was a teaspoon and that Gwen will be up in a minute."  
  
"You're probably right, my love," Alfred said, smiling nervously before returning to his paper.  
  
The three settled back down into their routine until, "AAAAHHHH!" the scream echoed round the kitchen.  
  
"Oohh.that must be Gwen now and right on a minute as well," Nancy said, peering down at her watch.  
  
***  
  
Gwen opened her eyes and as soon as she opened them, she closed them just as quickly.  
  
The ceiling was covered with blue stars that seemed to twinkle and the covers which were tightly wrapped around her were a deep purple.  
  
Her ceiling was bare and her covers had flowers on them.  
  
I must be dreaming, Gwen thought.  
  
She pinched herself and nothing; the stars still twinkled down at her.  
  
Where am I? Gwen thought, the words going round and round in her head.  
  
She sat still for a few moments and then threw her head back and screamed.  
  
"Stop that, dear. You'll lose your voice," Maggie said, walking towards the screaming girl.  
  
Gwen stopped and looked at the three people that had just entered.  
  
The one that had told her to stop screaming was quite tall and slim, a woman of about 60 or more, with grey hair which was tied up in a messy bun.  
  
She had large blue eyes which seemed to twinkle like the stars on the ceiling and she was wearing a long black skirt, a cream blouse and a massive red apron, covered in flour.  
  
The man next to her was big, built like a brick house. He had white hair which was sticking up in tufts on his head and small blue eyes similar to the apron woman's but more subdued. He was wearing a white shirt, a faded green waistcoat and brown trousers.  
  
He seemed the least friendly out of the three, Gwen thought to herself.  
  
The last person was a woman about the same age as the first one and she was very petite. She had a long flowing black dress on and it hung off her like it was a size too big but still it seemed to suit her that way.  
  
This woman also had grey hair but it seemed finer and softer than the other woman's and her brown eyes were similar to her hair, very soft looking. She looked like she could have floated out of the window, if there had been a strong enough breeze.  
  
"Umm.who are you and where am I?" Gwen said, finally finding her voice.  
  
"Oh, how rude of us," the man began, "I'm Alfred Arthur," he held his hand out to Gwen and she took it. He seemed less scary now.  
  
"This is my sister, Maggie Lark," gesturing to the apron woman, "and this is my wife, Nancy Arthur."  
  
The other woman took a step forward and smiled warmly at her.  
  
"You are at Scarlett Wood," the man concluded.  
  
"Did you kidnap me? Am I prisoner here?" Gwen said quickly, searching their faces for an answer.  
  
"Technically, yes. We did kidnap you," Alfred said, "but you are not a prisoner here."  
  
"So, I can leave?" Gwen asked.  
  
"If you want," Maggie answered.  
  
Fine, I'm leaving. I'm going back home to Carrie. She's probably so worried," Gwen said, getting up.  
  
"I don't think that would be wise," Alfred said, standing in her way.  
  
"But.," Gwen said, sitting back onto the bed.  
  
"She won't remember you," Nancy said quietly.  
  
"Why? I haven't been away that long, have I? Who am I? Rip Van Winkle?" Gwen said, laughing a little.  
  
Although she didn't really find it funny at all, she was actually quite scared.  
  
"We put a memory charm on her, to make her forget. We put them on all the Muggles that you know," Nancy said, putting a hand on Gwen's.  
  
"Muggles? What are they?" Gwen asked, she was now scared and confused.  
  
"Non-magic folk," Alfred replied.  
  
"Did we get everyone?" Maggie asked, suddenly looking concerned.  
  
"I think so," Alfred said. "Carrie, Annabelle, the orphanage people, neighbours, shops." he counted them on his fingers.  
  
"Non-magic folk? Memory charms? You're lying, aren't you?" Gwen shouted, but as soon as she had said it, she knew they were telling her the truth.  
  
"School?" Maggie offered.  
  
"I was home schooled," Gwen said quietly, not really understanding what was happening.  
  
"Yes, I remember now. Anyway." Alfred said, running a hand through his hair.  
  
"Why should I believe you?" Gwen suddenly burst out.  
  
"I know this is scary for you but you have to believe us. We are here to help you, help you with your new future and help you with your past," Nancy said, squeezing Gwen's hand gently.  
  
"My future? What's this got to do with my future and past?" Gwen said, sliding her hand away from Nancy.  
  
"Maybe this will help you to believe us," Nancy said, handing a photograph to Gwen.  
  
Gwen looked down at the photo and recognised the dark hair and the necklace, her necklace.  
  
"It's my mother isn't it?" Gwen asked, she'd never seen a picture before.  
  
"Yes. You can keep that," Nancy said.  
  
"How did you get this?" Gwen questioned, running a finger over her mother's face.  
  
"Well.it.she.," Nancy started.  
  
"Gwen, I know it's hard for you to believe us. But you're not going anywhere, not that we're not holding you captive but you have nothing to return to," Alfred said loudly.  
  
Gwen looked up at him and her eyes started to water.  
  
"Now look, you're scaring her Alfred," Maggie interjected, "Gwen, how about this, you stay here for a month and if at the end, you still don't trust us and believe what we have to say then you can leave. How about that?"  
  
Gwen thought it over in her head, what did she have to lose?  
  
"Ok," Gwen said, staring at the photo.  
  
Maggie let out a squeak of joy and smirked proudly at Alfred.  
  
Gwen didn't want to talk about this anymore; she needed to change the subject, "what was her name?" Gwen asked, clutching the photo tightly.  
  
"You don't know?" Maggie asked, clearly surprised.  
  
"I asked but they said I couldn't know, not until I was older. I don't know anything about her or my father. They wouldn't even let me see my birth certificate."  
  
"I knew, we'd forgotten something," Maggie chimed.  
  
"We'll deal with it later," Nancy said coolly.  
  
Maggie nodded gently and fell silent again.  
  
"Her name was Victoria Aldan," Alfred said, turning to face the window. He was obviously thinking about what to do next.  
  
"What about my father? Do you have a picture of him as well?" Gwen asked quickly, she could hardly believe the situation she was in.  
  
"I'm afraid; we don't know who your father is. Your mother would never say, telling us it would be safer that way," Nancy said quietly.  
  
Gwen noticed her eyes were watering slightly.  
  
"Well I found a mother today, so I guess that's enough, for now," Gwen added, but still one question still needed to be answered.  
  
"Is she still alive?" Gwen asked, hoping for the best.  
  
Maggie glanced at Nancy who in turn glanced at Alfred.  
  
"She's not, is she," Gwen said, feeling like her heart had been ripped out, "how long has she been dead?"  
  
"13 years," Alfred replied sadly.  
  
"I was two," Gwen said, piecing things together. "I was two, when I was left at the orphanage." she paused for a second before carrying on, "did she die, the same day she gave me up?"  
  
"I'm so sorry, you had to find out this way," Nancy said, putting an arm round Gwen.  
  
"Hey, don't worry," Gwen said, "how can you miss someone you didn't know?"  
  
Gwen smiled but she knew she wasn't convincing any of them, most of all herself.  
  
"Well, I think we should go downstairs," Alfred said, walking towards Gwen and gesturing her towards the door.  
  
"Yes. I was just about to make pancakes," Maggie said excitedly.  
  
"Pancakes?" Gwen said getting up, hunger taking over her confusion and suspicion for the moment.  
  
* * *  
  
Wormtail scurried across the floor towards his master and handed him a gold cup.  
  
Voldemort snatched it from Wormtail's hands and drank it down before throwing the cup onto the floor.  
  
"News?" Voldemort hissed, sitting down in a nearby chair.  
  
"Umm.," Wormtail stuttered.  
  
Voldemort took out his wand and started to point it slightly at him. This jumpstarted Wormtail and he started to babble quickly.  
  
"Yes, umm. we now have information that says the rumour is true and that."  
  
"Where's the child now?" Voldermort snapped, cutting off his servant.  
  
"Umm.the guardians have her."  
  
"WHAT! Why didn't you inform me of this earlier?" Voldemort screamed, bringing his face up to Wormtail's.  
  
"I.," Wormtail's mouth went dry and he could hardly form the words.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Voldemort repeated in a softer tone which frightened Wormtail more.  
  
"I only just found out," Wormtail spat out, looking down, he couldn't bear to look at his master's face.  
  
"Fine. We will just have to watch her, closely. I want to be informed of everything as soon as it happens," the Dark Lord sneered, grabbing the back of Wormtail's neck.  
  
"Because when I'm not informed, it makes me angry and we both know what I'm like when I'm angry, don't we?"  
  
"Yes.," Wormtail whispered, scared to breathe a breath.  
  
Voldemort laughed and threw the snivelling man onto the floor.  
  
"Yes, we do know," he laughed again, twirling his wand in his hands.  
  
* * *  
  
"I'm a what?" Gwen said, stuffing another pancake into her mouth.  
  
"You're a witch," Alfred repeated again.  
  
"What? Riding broomsticks, black cauldrons, spells, that kind of witch?" Gwen said, shocked at what she was hearing.  
  
The three guardians nodded together.  
  
"And you expect me to believe this?" Gwen said loudly.  
  
The three guardians nodded again, looking nervously at each other. This wasn't going to plan.  
  
"Gwen, can you just please, accept this?" Alfred pleaded.  
  
Gwen inspected all their faces and sighed, giving in for now.  
  
"Anyway, as I was saying. Gwen, you are a witch.," Alfred started again.  
  
"But you're special," Maggie cut in, unloading another pancake onto Gwen's plate.  
  
"Yes, you are," Alfred said, shooing Maggie back to the stove, "you're a Merlin."  
  
At that moment, the three guardians froze to see the reaction on Gwen's face.  
  
Gwen looked back at them not knowing what to think but knowing that it must be important.  
  
"What's a Merlin?" Gwen said, wishing she already knew and didn't look so stupid.  
  
"Well, normally a witch or wizard gets or starts to show their powers at 11," Alfred said. "Oh, so Merlin is code for a late starter, is it? Great," Gwen said, feeling depressed.  
  
"No, Gwen," Alfred started again, "what I mean is that, there are rare cases when a witch or wizard doesn't get their powers till they're 16. These people are called Merlins."  
  
"Why are they called merlins?" Gwen asked, feeling better.  
  
"Because.," Alfred said slowly.  
  
"Because you're descended from Merlin," Maggie squealed.  
  
Alfred turned his head to face Maggie and rolled his eyes, "I was just about to say that."  
  
"Merlin, as in King Arthur's Merlin?" Gwen said, barely moving.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But I didn't know, he had any children?"  
  
"He did, a daughter called Inogen."  
  
"So, were my father and mother witches too?"  
  
"Yes, they were," Alfred said, gently.  
  
"And good ones," Maggie chipped in.  
  
"So, how do you, Nancy and Maggie fit into this?" Gwen asked, pushing her plate out of the way and leaning on the oak table.  
  
"Well, we're your guardians. The people that are going to teach you how to use your powers and protect you from.," Alfred began but then let his voice fade.  
  
"From who?" Gwen asked, slightly scared that there was someone she had to be protected from.  
  
"Well.," Alfred said, getting very uncomfortable.  
  
"Gwen," Maggie said loudly, distracting her, "did you know that we all knew your mother?"  
  
"Really? You all, knew my mother?" Gwen said, excitedly. This was the closest thing she had to a real family.  
  
"Yes. She was a very, special woman," Alfred said, smiling.  
  
"And now, we know you," Maggie said, beaming at the new witch.  
  
"I guess, that makes you the closest link to my real family. Before this, all I had was Carrie.," Gwen's voice trailed off. Carrie, she'd almost forgotten about her.  
  
At that point, Gwen hated herself, how could she forget her surrogate mother for 15 years, the smile faded from Gwen's face.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" Nancy said.  
  
"No.it's just, I never even got to say goodbye and now she won't even remember me. It's like, my whole life has just been erased," Gwen said, looking at the floor.  
  
"Well, you've got a new life," Maggie said smiling, trying to lighten the atmosphere.  
  
But do I want this new life? Gwen thought to herself.  
  
She started to ask another question but was cut off by Nancy, "why don't you go upstairs and get changed? Hmm.?"  
  
"But.,"  
  
"Go. Your clothes are in the drawers," Nancy said, indicating the door with her sewing needle.  
  
Gwen didn't put up anymore of a fight and quietly went upstairs.  
  
"She's so like.," Maggie began but stopped, there was no point saying it, the other two had already thought it too. 


	3. Crying Out The Past

Chapter Three  
  
Gwen opened her eyes and couldn't believe what had happened in the past couple of days.  
  
Nancy, Alfred and Maggie had now become her friends, her family and her teachers.  
  
Yes, at the beginning she'd be sceptical about what they'd been saying, but after seeing what she'd seen, how could you not believe them?  
  
She'd seen Alfred call for things and then have them zoom into the kitchen and land into his lap, Nancy knit, without even touching the needles and Maggie disappear and then reappear out of thin air.  
  
But the most convincing piece of evidence was their wands; the long, thin pieces of wood which were completely unique to every person.  
  
Yes, that had been the thing to really convince her that these people were telling her the truth.  
  
Gwen had also noticed that although the three of them, looked quite weak and fragile; well, maybe apart from Alfred, they were actually quite good with magic.  
  
The ease in which they did things, the way they knew absolutely everything, seemed fascinating to Gwen and she secretly hoped that one day she could be as good as them.  
  
Nancy taught her about Charms and Divination, which she said was very important for a Merlin. The power to see into the future was a Merlin's special gift and that she should treasure it.  
  
Gwen liked divination but she didn't think she was that good at it. Nancy told her not to worry, her full powers wouldn't appear until her 16th birthday and after that day, everything would fall into place.  
  
Maggie taught her Transfiguration and Potions and it was fun, except Maggie always diverted into cooking.  
  
One day, they were supposed to be making a freeze flame potion and they ended making some nice fair-weather cakes, which were Alfred's favourite, so, he didn't complain.  
  
Though, how she made them, Gwen was never quite sure.  
  
Alfred taught her everything else, the History of Magic, Arithmacy, Ancient runes, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Magical Creature Studies and Spells.  
  
She loved her lessons but the one thing about them was that you needed a wand and Gwen still hadn't got hers.  
  
Alfred said she would get one but not yet, first, she had to learn all the spells and then she could put them into practice.  
  
* * *  
  
Harry hurried into the great hall and settled down into his seat at the Gryffindor table with Ron and Hermione on either side of him.  
  
They watched the new first years come in and stand nervously around, waiting to be sorted into their houses.  
  
Harry thought back to his first day at Hogwarts and how he'd felt that he was finally accepted somewhere; he smiled at the old feeling.  
  
"Slytherin," he heard the hat call and he watched a small boy walk over to the Slytherin table.  
  
It made his flesh crawl, watching another unsuspecting victim enter that house. He caught sight of Draco Malfoy; they stared at each other and you could feel the hatred between the two.  
  
" Ravenclaw," the hat shouted again, and Harry watched a tall blonde girl walk over to their table. She sat herself right next to another familiar face, Cho Chang.  
  
Harry felt himself breathing more quickly, as he watched her talk and smile at her other house members.  
  
After the sorting was over, Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"Welcome new and old students, to a new school year. I have one announcement. due to the unfortunate dismissal of Winston Wickerham; I have had to appoint yet, another Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. It is with great pleasure that I announce that Arabella Figg will be taking over."  
  
He motioned to an old woman at his side. Harry smiled. He had seen Mrs. Figg a number of times before this, but only up to last year, he hadn't understood her role in his life.  
  
She had been his Fairy Godmother, watching him at a distance, keeping guard and helping him, without him ever knowing.  
  
He clapped loudly, as did Ron and Hermione; they'd met Mrs. Figg too, last year.  
  
"Now, let the feast begin," Dumbledore said and a mountain of food appeared, everyone dug in hungrily.  
  
* * *  
  
"So, how were lessons today?" Maggie asked, settling down to eat.  
  
"Umm.great. I had Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms," Gwen replied, taking another roasted potato.  
  
"I've never liked that Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Maggie said, giggling while she said it. Alfred frowned and poured some more gravy onto his beef.  
  
"Really? I like him," Gwen said, winking at Maggie, putting her into further giggles.  
  
Alfred looked up and stared at Maggie, then turned to Gwen and smiled warmly.  
  
"Thank you, Gwen."  
  
"Umm.," Gwen started, taking on a more serious tone, "when can I get my wand?"  
  
"We've been through this," Alfred said firmly.  
  
"I know. But I'm tired of using that wooden stick," she said, pointing at the cane in the corner, "I mean, how do I know I'm doing it right, if nothing happens?" Gwen pleaded.  
  
"Maybe, she should have it," Nancy said suddenly.  
  
"Nancy, you know that she's not meant to have it before her 16th birthday," Alfred said, stabbing his fork into his meat.  
  
"Why not?" Gwen asked, "do other witches get their wands at 16 too?"  
  
"No, they get them, just before they go to Hogwarts," Alfred replied.  
  
"Hogwarts?" Gwen asked, intrigued by the new subject.  
  
"Hogwarts is a wizarding school, where wizards and witches go to learn about magic."  
  
"Why don't I go there?"  
  
"Because, you're special and they start when they're 11."  
  
"So, I could have started when I was 11," Gwen muttered, she wasn't trying to be difficult but she desperately wanted a wand.  
  
"Well, you see, we didn't actually know about you, 'till about a year ago," Alfred said, a little embarrassed.  
  
"I don't understand. How did you find out about me then?"  
  
"Well, there's a book called the book of Esse. It is said to be Merlin's book, where he wrote all his predictions for the future down. Anyway, whenever anyone tried to read it, they couldn't. The pages are completely blank and it is said only a descendent of the great man himself, can read it. Well, a year or so ago, the book opened by itself and words started to appear, "The new Merlin will be born soon. Gwen Aldan." And then when the words had been read, they vanished and the book closed again. So, when we found out, that you were the Merlin, we volunteered to be your guardians," Alfred said, leaning back in his chair.  
  
"Is about to be born?" Gwen queried.  
  
"It means that you're going to come into your powers soon. Then you will be a true Merlin," Nancy answered.  
  
"How do you know so much about Merlins, if we're so rare?" Gwen asked, stuffing the last potato in her mouth.  
  
"Before you, there has only been one other Merlin, apart from Merlin himself. His name was Henry Cadwellon. When he was discovered, people decided to study this phenomenon," Alfred said, getting up and taking his paper before settling back down again.  
  
"Where is he now?" Gwen asked.  
  
"He is long gone, way before your time and mine. I think, my grandfather was just a boy, when he disappeared," Alfred said, opening the paper.  
  
"Disappeared?" Maggie said, joining in the conversation, "I didn't know that."  
  
"Yes, he vanished. Never saw him again. His disappearance is still one of the great unsolved mysteries of the wizarding world," Alfred said, turning another page.  
  
"All that talk, has made me hungry for some desert," Maggie said, getting up and taking a giant jelly off the kitchen counter and placing it on the table. The jelly wobbled slightly then started to change colours, first red, then purple, green.Gwen was amazed.  
  
"It's all different flavours, depending on when you scoop the jelly. I want raspberry," Maggie said enthusiastically, waiting for the jelly to turn a dark pink colour, before taking a massive scoop of it.  
  
Alfred and Nancy drew nearer to the jelly, waiting for their flavour. Alfred settled on tangerine and Nancy went for cherry.  
  
Gwen watched the scene and ended taking some traditional strawberry flavour.  
  
"You know this was your mother's favourite desert," Maggie said absentmindedly, but as soon as she said those words, her face fell and she knew she shouldn't have said it.  
  
Alfred turned and glared at his sister.  
  
"It's alright, really. You can talk about her," Gwen said, trying to break the tension.  
  
"Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you," she said, her voice wavered slightly, "umm.I've been thinking about my mother a lot lately and I was wondering.umm. how did she die and why did she give me."  
  
Nancy suddenly got up and said loudly,  
  
"Bedtime," before grabbing Gwen and taking her up to her room.  
  
As Nancy tucked the covers in and around Gwen, she saw the confused look on the child's face.  
  
"Something wrong?" Nancy asked, knowing the answer and questions that would follow.  
  
"No. But I just wanted to know, why my mother gave me up and how she died. Is that wrong?" Gwen felt suddenly better, now that the questions had finally been asked.  
  
Nancy looked down at the girl and kissed her gently on the forehead, before whispering in her ear,  
  
"Sleep now."  
  
With that she left and Gwen dived under the covers, wondering why they wouldn't give her any answers.  
  
It was about midnight when Gwen woke up; her recurring nightmare had reared up again.  
  
Gwen started to shake the images out of her head when she heard the slight murmur of voices from downstairs, curiosity and the fact that she didn't want to sleep, took over.  
  
She quietly walked down the steps and saw that the kitchen door was slightly open and that light was streaming out from it, she could hear the voices of Nancy and Maggie from inside.  
  
"We have to tell her something," Maggie said, "she's going to keep asking."  
  
"We can't tell her, it would break her heart," Nancy disagreed.  
  
"We have to say something," Maggie said sharply.  
  
Gwen had never heard her talk like that.  
  
"I wouldn't know where to start," Alfred said, up 'till then, he'd been quiet.  
  
"Tell her the truth," Maggie said.  
  
"We can't," Alfred repeated.  
  
"We have to," Maggie muttered her voice rose slightly.  
  
"No," Alfred said, he was beginning to shout.  
  
"She has a right to know," Maggie shouted.  
  
"What are we supposed to say?!" Alfred yelled and Gwen heard him slam his fist on the table and the noise echoed into the night.  
  
Alfred continued, "shall we tell her that her mother went mad because her father was a servant of Lord Voldemort, hmm?"  
  
"Alfred.," Nancy shouted, but was cut off.  
  
"That she hated the fact that her child was a muggle!" Alfred yelled even louder.  
  
"I will not lie to her, Alfred!" Maggie retorted loudly back.  
  
"I don't want to either but we can't tell her the truth. It would destroy her," Nancy said, trying to ease the tension.  
  
"She may be stronger than we give her credit for," Maggie answered.  
  
"She may be strong but she is not strong enough to hear that her mother gave her up because she thought her father wanted to kill her," Alfred muttered.  
  
"I think, we'd better calm down," Nancy said, looking at her husband and sister-in-law. They were both fuming and had their eyes fixed on the other one.  
  
"William would have told her," Maggie mumbled.  
  
Alfred's eyes grew, "don't you dare say that name!"  
  
"Why?! We need to face it sometime, not just for us, but for Gwen. She needs to know how her mother died!" Maggie screamed.  
  
"How she died?" Alfred bellowed, "she was murdered! Along with.," Alfred fell silent, breathing heavily.  
  
Gwen had never heard him sound so angry, it scared her.  
  
"That's quite enough from the both of you," Nancy said quickly, "you'll wake her up," her voice had taken on a harder edge.  
  
Gwen couldn't take any more and ran upstairs to her room, where she cried herself to sleep.  
  
* Thanks to my reviewer Twilight Aurora* 


	4. The Madness Starts

Chapter Four  
  
The next morning, Gwen tried to smile, to make sure that the others didn't realize that she knew the truth about her parents. Her mother was a Muggle- hater and her father was a follower of the Dark Lord.  
  
Alfred had told her all about, what the Dark Lord had done to the magic and non-magic world, the way he wanted to rid the world of Muggle-born wizards, that he only wanted pure bloods. She hated him, but now knowing what she knew about her family tree, could she end up like that?  
  
She now wished that they'd left her at home with Carrie and Annabelle, the magic powers weren't enough to balance out the pain and shame.  
  
* * *  
  
"So, how is the Merlin getting on?" Voldemort asked, sitting in his chair, staring into the roaring flames of his fire.  
  
"Good. She will be a good witch, although she doesn't have a wand," Wormtail said, trembling slightly.  
  
Voldemort laughed, "a great Merlin doesn't have a wand."  
  
Wormtail laughed nervously with his master.  
  
"Soon, I will have to meet this girl," Voldemort sneered.  
  
"Meet her?" Wormtail asked, "aren't you scared she might."  
  
Voldemort cast an eye at the snivelling bag of flesh. "What? Scared that she might defeat me?" He laughed again, "I'm not scared of anyone."  
  
"Not even Harry." the former rat began, but seeing his mistake, shut up and threw himself onto the floor, weeping his apologies.  
  
"Get up," the Dark Lord ordered, Wormtail jumped to attention.  
  
"No, I'm not scared and it's a little known fact that Merlins can be evil. Merlin himself wrestled with the idea, as did the other one. Why do you think he disappeared? He was scared of what he would do. But this one, this one will not escape, she will be mine. Her powers of divination will become very useful in the future. Then we will see what the great Harry Potter can do against me," he cackled, and fell back into his chair, grinning at his nightmarish vision for the world.  
  
* * * "You know, it's nearly Halloween," Maggie said cheerily, shovelling some eggs onto Gwen's plate.  
  
"Already?" Gwen said, trying to sound happy but really her insides were in knots.  
  
"Yes. It's already been 2 months, since we. well, you know," Maggie said, she didn't like to say that they'd kidnapped Gwen.  
  
"Hmm.," Gwen replied, she couldn't bear to talk.  
  
"And we've got a treat for you," Maggie continued, " we're going to teach you how to ride a broomstick."  
  
"Really?" Gwen said, forgetting for a moment about her family.  
  
"Yes, let's get started," Nancy said, jumping up and walking out into the garden. Maggie took off her apron and followed her.  
  
Gwen got up and turned to Alfred who was fiddling with his fishing rod.  
  
"You coming?" she asked him.  
  
"No, dear. You go, I can't stand flying. I'm going to do some fishing instead," he replied, grabbing his fishing hat.  
  
"You fish?" Gwen said, a little surprised.  
  
"Why wouldn't I?" Alfred replied.  
  
"Well. it's just that fishing is a Muggle activity," Gwen answered sheepishly.  
  
"Yes, well, it's always nice to do something that doesn't involve magic, every once in a while and I've always found it relaxing. Anyway, I'm a little afraid of heights."  
  
Gwen laughed at the thought that this huge man could be scared of anything.  
  
"Come on, Gwen," she heard Maggie and Nancy call from the garden.  
  
Gwen rushed into the garden, excited about her first lesson.  
  
"Ok. Here we are," Maggie said, pointing to a tatty broomstick on the floor.  
  
"Now, place your hand over it and say "up"."  
  
As Gwen said the words, the broom rolled onto it's side.  
  
"Try again," Maggie beamed.  
  
Gwen was about to when she suddenly noticed that Nancy had disappeared.  
  
"Where's Nancy?"  
  
Maggie looked up at the sky and Gwen followed and she could hardly believe what she saw.  
  
Nancy was flying and not gracefully or slowly but like she was a little child riding her broomstick for the first time.  
  
She was doing loop de loops and diving, giggling all the way. Gwen looked on in awe, then from out of nowhere; Nancy zoomed past them, ruffling Maggie's hair as she went by.  
  
"Catch me, if you can," Nancy squealed, soaring through the clouds.  
  
"You know, Nancy was a seeker," Maggie said.  
  
Gwen knew all about Quidditch. Alfred had been an avid supporter in his day, though had never played and since the revelation about his fear, she knew why. But it now seemed that Nancy had also had an interest in the sport.  
  
She was about to ask Maggie something when she grabbed the broom out of Gwen's hands and took off, chasing Nancy, the last thing she heard was Maggie yelling back, "so, was I."  
  
Gwen wondered if they'd ever come back down, but their energy seemed endless. She lay down on the grass and watched them, while they tried to outrun each other. Gwen couldn't help but smile.  
  
* * *  
  
Alfred walked quickly towards the entrance of Diagon Alley.  
  
He hadn't been here for so long, he walked in the Leaky Cauldron and nodded his head at the customers who recognised him instantly and smiled back.  
  
As he stepped onto the pavement, memories flooded back to him and he knew he'd missed this.  
  
For so many years, he had given up on magic, but now with Gwen, he'd finally come back to life, been given new hope.  
  
Alfred thought it would probably be the same for Nancy and Maggie too, ever since that day 13 years ago. He remembered it so clearly, their faces were burned into his memory.  
  
"Come on, dad," William Arthur called, holding the door.  
  
"Ok, son,." Alfred said, walking quickly out of the house.  
  
"Mum! Aunt Maggie! Uncle Simon!" William called again.  
  
The figures of Nancy, Maggie and Simon appeared and they were shooed out of the door by William.  
  
"What would you do, without me?" William said, putting an arm around his mother.  
  
"I don't know, son. I don't know," Nancy said, smiling.  
  
Then from out of nowhere, there was a beating of wings and a large dark brown owl appeared it perched on a nearby branch and screeched at the party. Alfred turned around and recognised it instantly.  
  
It was Vicky Aldan's owl, Ebony.  
  
"It's Vicky!"  
  
He shouted and the others stopped and quickly ran indoors to the fireplace, "Floo Powder!" Alfred yelled.  
  
They arrived at the small apartment of Vicky Aldan and found her huddled on the floor, babbling quietly to herself.  
  
"Vicky!" Maggie shouted, rushing forward to the woman.  
  
"I knew, we shouldn't have left her, in this state," Nancy said, joining Maggie and Vicky on the floor.  
  
"It was safer this way. I thought being in the Muggle world, he wouldn't find them, that it was safer." Alfred started, but as his gaze fell onto Vicky, he knew he'd made a mistake.  
  
"Where's Gwen?" Nancy said loudly, everyone scanned the room but found nothing.  
  
"What have you done with Gwen, Vicky?" Alfred said, grabbing the woman's shoulders, so that her face was facing his.  
  
"Muggle, she's a Muggle. Can't survive, Muggles can't survive. Had to go. He'll hurt her," Vicky Aldan muttered, rocking gently.  
  
"What do you think she did with Gwen?" William said, hoping for the best.  
  
"I think we should go look for her," Simon Lark offered, " I mean, she probably just left her somewhere. Maybe a Muggle orphanage?"  
  
"Yes, maybe you're right," Alfred said, walking towards the door, " You and Maggie stay here and watch her.  
  
"Come on," he said, gesturing Simon and William towards the door.  
  
The three men walked onto the street.  
  
"You two search up there and I'll search down here," Alfred said, pointing it out for both of them.  
  
"Ok, meet back here at dusk," Simon said, before rushing off with William.  
  
"Bye dad," Those words were the last that Alfred Arthur heard from his son.  
  
* * *  
  
"Calm down, Vicky. They're looking for her now," Nancy said, rubbing the young woman's back. Maggie was pacing the room.  
  
"I hope the child's alright," She kept repeating.  
  
"Please sit down," Nancy said quietly.  
  
"Gwen is a Muggle, can't survive, had to go. Kill, he would kill her," Vicky kept saying.  
  
"Who?" Nancy asked, looking into the woman's eyes.  
  
"Can't say, safer for Gwen. Safe, safe. Otherwise." Vicky muttered.  
  
"Otherwise what?" Nancy said, leaning in closer to the woman.  
  
"No, no, no. Can't say," The woman said, shaking her head furiously, trying to reassure her  
  
"No, you can say," Nancy said, lifting Vicky's head and staring deeply into her eyes.  
  
Vicky stared back at the old woman and finally agreeing it was ok, said in a low whisper," his Master will come and.safer this way, safer."  
  
Vicky threw her hands on the side of her head and started to hit her head, Nancy grabbed her hands and held them tightly.  
  
"Who is his Master? Who?" She almost screamed the sentence. Vicky looked down and mumbled, the name, the name Voldemort.  
  
Nancy threw the woman's hands down in shock.  
  
"What's that man done to her?" Maggie said loudly, "He's ruined her life and now his child's as well."  
  
"Ssshh.That isn't helping, Maggie," Nancy said, getting up to face her.  
  
Then without any warning, Vicky Aldan got up and ran out of the door, screaming, "Must protect Gwen, must protect her from.."  
  
But they never heard the end of the sentence.  
  
The two women rushed after her, but it was too late, she'd disappeared.  
  
Four hours later, the bodies of Simon Lark, William Arthur and Victoria Aldan were found. They'd been killed by the Avada Kedavra curse. That day, Alfred lost his faith in magic, the day he lost his son to it.  
  
* * *  
  
Maggie and Nancy gracefully landed next to Gwen lying on the grass.  
  
"About time," Gwen said, putting a mock-angry voice on.  
  
"Sorry, just got caught up," Nancy said, breathing deeply. Her hair was a complete mess but she'd never looked younger.  
  
Maggie leaned on the broom, trying to catch her breath.  
  
"Now.it's.your.turn," she said, taking a breath between each word.  
  
"Now?" Gwen asked.  
  
"No time like the present," Nancy said, handing her the broom. " Now, just sit on the broom, one leg on either side and then push off the ground. Ok?"  
  
"Ok," Gwen said, grabbing the broom and doing what Nancy had said. She pushed off the ground and nothing; she tried again but still nothing.  
  
"Umm.this broom's a little old; you'll need to try harder," Maggie said, giving her a reassuring smile.  
  
This time, Gwen dug her heels in and pushed with all she had, and up she went. She was flying, the air rushing through her hair.  
  
It was a nice distraction, flying, the air all around you, nothing being able to touch you. But as she looked down on the countryside below, she decided that she preferred her feet on the ground, where life was.  
  
Gwen was totally caught up in her own thoughts when she realized that she was flying away from Scarlett Wood. She thought she should turn around, but she didn't know how.  
  
At first, Gwen felt scared but then an instinct from within took over and she swung the broom around.  
  
First, she swung too hard and she spun around for a few seconds, but she eventually got the hang of it and flew quickly back to Scarlett Wood.  
  
She saw Nancy and Maggie on the ground, with their heads looking up at the sky, looking for her.  
  
Maggie spotted her first and nudged Nancy, they both started to wave and call to her, to come down. Gwen pretended not to be able to hear at first, so she could have a few more minutes to herself.  
  
But eventually she planted her feet firmly back on the ground, where they belong, Gwen thought.  
  
* * *  
  
Alfred walked quickly up the alley, looking for his destination and then there it was "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since. 382." He entered the shop and more memories rushed back.  
  
"Now I have my wand. I'm going to be the best, aren't I, dad?" William called out.  
  
"Yes, yes you are, William," he'd replied.  
  
"Alfred Arthur? Is it you?" Mr. Ollivander called, walking towards the man.  
  
"How are you?" Alfred said, snapping back to the present. He held his hand out.  
  
"I'm fine," Ollivander gazed at his old friend and gripped his hand a little tighter. "I was sorry to hear about your son and.well."  
  
Alfred pulled his hand away.  
  
"That's in the past; I'm here for the future."  
  
"Really?" Ollivander said, straightening some boxes on a side bench.  
  
Alfred stepped closer to the other man and said in a hushed voice.  
  
"We've found the new Merlin."  
  
Ollivander took a step back.  
  
"I'd heard. but I thought it was just idle gossip."  
  
"Well, it's not. She's real and now."  
  
"You want the wand," Ollivander said, walking to the back room.  
  
"Wait here," he called out.  
  
Minutes later, he'd returned, carrying a large bronze box.  
  
"We had so much trouble, getting this back from the other one. But, they found it, never found him, but they found this," Ollivander placed the box on a table and opened it gently. Inside was the wand, Merlin's wand, soon to be Gwen's wand.  
  
"It's.," Alfred began but he didn't have the words.  
  
He could feel the magic coming off the wand, it was intoxicating.  
  
"Eleven inches, hawthorn and of course dragon heartstring," Ollivander whispered. "You know, this isn't the original. That one got stolen by.Vivienne. They say, the wood used was from the actual hawthorn tree that trapped the great Wizard himself. Apparently, he made while he was trapped and then used it to escape."  
  
Alfred was motionless, looking in at awe at the wand.  
  
"So, I'll be taking this," Alfred said, reaching for the wand.  
  
"You can't," Ollivander said abruptly, shutting the box quickly, " you know the rules. Only the Merlin can take it."  
  
"But.," Alfred said, placing a hand on the box.  
  
"No, my friend," Ollivander stated again.  
  
Alfred without a moment's thought, grabbed the box and ran for the entrance, Ollivander stood and watched, waiting.  
  
As Alfred reached the door, he was suddenly pushed back by a force, that caused him to throw the box into the air.  
  
The box fell and landed gently into the arms of Ollivander.  
  
"I told you, you couldn't. Only the Merlin can take it, out of the shop. Now, just bring the girl next time."  
  
Alfred got up and brushed the dust off his cloak.  
  
"I can't."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because she's not 16, yet."  
  
"Oh, when is the child's birthday?"  
  
"3rd February," Alfred replied glumly.  
  
"Well, I shall see you then. Good day," Ollivander then turned and walked away, disappearing behind a mountain of boxes.  
  
Alfred made his way out of the shop, a little disheartened, but then he passed "Eeylops Owl Emporium."  
  
"Hmm." Alfred said, walking into the shop.  
  
* Yes, Twilight Aurora you seem to be my only reviewer. But better one than none. Thanks.* 


	5. The Lark and The Worms

Chapter Five  
  
Gwen could see Annabelle just in front of her and she seemed to be terrified of something, Gwen moved forward but every time she did, Annabelle took a step back.  
  
Then, there was a flash of green light and.nothing.  
  
But then, another image appeared, this was one of a young woman. The woman had her back facing her and Gwen was looking up at her.  
  
Then the woman turned around and it was her mother, "now, remember our song."  
  
The woman said, looking at Gwen. Gwen could see now, her mother had the same dark hair and dark eyes as her.  
  
Victoria Aldan then started to hum and she brought out a small wooden flute.  
  
She brought the instrument up to her lips and blew it gently, a soft noise came out and a familiar tune enveloped Gwen.  
  
She gazed up at the woman and then she spoke again, "not so scared now, are we?"  
  
Her voice was so gentle and quiet and the music had formed a blanket around Gwen, making her feel protected.  
  
Then the woman leant down and kissed the girl on the forehead, Gwen could feel it, it felt so real.  
  
"Wake up, Gwen!" It was Nancy.  
  
Gwen sat upright in bed and looked at the old woman, pottering around the room, moving things here and there.  
  
"What's the matter?" Nancy said, looking at the girl.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Just had a funny dream," Gwen replied, not really knowing what to make of it.  
  
"Oh. Well, you know dreams can sometimes be trying to warn you about things. Maybe things in the future," Nancy said quietly, she then started to hum.  
  
"What you humming?" Gwen asked, pulling off her nightgown.  
  
"Oh, just a song," Nancy replied, opening the curtains and letting in a flood of light.  
  
"Sounds familiar," Gwen said, her thoughts returning to her dream. She fingered the place where her mother had kissed her.  
  
"It does.," Nancy said, turning around, "do you remember anything else about it?" Nancy said, walking towards Gwen, her eyes focused on her.  
  
"Umm.I remember, not to be scared," Gwen hardly knew what she was saying.  
  
"You remember?" Nancy said, a smile spreading across her face, "she remembers!" she called out to the others.  
  
Nancy took hold of Gwen's hand and dragged her downstairs and into the kitchen.  
  
"What you doing, Nancy?" Gwen said, pulling free.  
  
"She remembers the song, Maggie," Nancy said enthusiastically.  
  
"She does," Maggie said, whipping around and spraying a mixture everywhere from the spoon she was holding.  
  
"I don't understand," Gwen said puzzled, "so what if I remember a song?"  
  
Alfred rose and pulled a chair up to his and patted it, indicating Gwen to sit down.  
  
"You've been here before, Gwen. You've met us all before. When you were young, your mother brought you here; you even had your 1st birthday here," Alfred said.  
  
"When we said, we knew your mother, we weren't being completely honest. We didn't just know her, Arthur and I were her godparents," Nancy said, stroking Gwen's head.  
  
"That means, I'm your god aunt," Maggie added cheerfully.  
  
"But I don't remember. I mean, if I was here, wouldn't I remember? I was young, but I would still remember something, wouldn't I?" Gwen said, racking her brains for something.  
  
"It was the memory charm," Maggie said, sitting down next to Gwen.  
  
"Memory charm?"  
  
"Yes, we think that your mother put a memory charm on you before she gave you up. So, you wouldn't remember anything and live a normal muggle existence."  
  
"But, you remember the song and that means that the memory charm is wearing off," Nancy said.  
  
"I didn't know, memory charms could wear off," Gwen said quietly.  
  
"They don't normally. But you're mother was in such a weakened state and the fact that you're a Merlin.," Alfred replied.  
  
"Here, maybe this will jog your memory," Maggie said, taking a large leather book from one of the kitchen drawers.  
  
Gwen opened the book slowly and found an array of moving pictures, she wasn't surprised, she'd seen moving pictures in the "Daily Prophet".  
  
The first time she'd seen a moving picture was in the "Daily Prophet." It was of a young wizard and he'd waved at her, she'd nearly fallen off her chair, at the shock.  
  
The pictures in the book were of her, Nancy, Maggie, Alfred and.her mother.  
  
She saw the happy looks on all their faces and wished that she could remember them.  
  
Then as she looked through the book, she came across two faces, she didn't know.  
  
"Who are these people?" Gwen said, pointing at the two men.  
  
One of them was quite young, with brown curly hair and deep brown eyes; they reminded her of Nancy's.  
  
The second man was older; he had dark grey hair, with stripes of white, here and there. He also had brown eyes and was holding her in the picture.  
  
Maggie and Nancy each took a deep breath and looked away, Alfred seemed to be the only one that was listening.  
  
"Those two are.William Arthur and Simon Lark. My son and Maggie's husband," Alfred said, his eyes watering.  
  
Gwen knew instantly that she'd hit a nerve with all of them, "they're dead too, aren't they?" Gwen asked.  
  
Alfred nodded his head gently and then murmured quietly, "they died on the same day as your mother."  
  
All four of them remained silent, all holding back their tears.  
  
***  
  
"Where is she?" William said, walking alongside Simon.  
  
"It's getting dark, let's go back," Simon muttered.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"William, there's no point, us carrying on without telling them where we are. There's no point, worrying your mother anymore," Simon said.  
  
"Yeah, you're right."  
  
The two, started to head back when out of the corner of William's eye, he saw her. "Is that Vicky?" he cried out to Simon.  
  
"Yes, it is. Quick, we need to go get her," he called back and the two headed off to try and catch Vicky.  
  
Vicky kept looking around her, she couldn't remember where she'd left her baby, nothing looked familiar.  
  
Then she heard them, William and Simon, calling to her.  
  
They couldn't take her back, she didn't have her baby, thought Vicky and so, she ran.  
  
Eventually, she was too tired to run anymore and stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse.  
  
From within, she could hear voices, so she drew closer, peering in a crack left by the door.  
  
"There she is," Simon shouted, seeing Vicky standing near the entrance to the warehouse.  
  
The two of them, ran up to her, only to be quieted by a look.  
  
They looked into the warehouse and saw a bunch of cloaked figures standing around a massive bonfire.  
  
Simon and William looked at each other, they'd thought the same thing, it was the death eaters society.  
  
"Why did we have to meet in a muggle place?" one said.  
  
"Because.the Ministry wouldn't dream of coming here. Not in a place, where they might cause a scene with the muggles all around," another said, he was clearly the leader. "Now onto business," he continued, "as you all know, our dark lord is in a weakened state. But he will making a recovery, so we must be patient and wait. So, I'm afraid this will be our last meeting for now. In the meantime, we must watch our backs; there are those that wish to bring us down. Also, we must convince the Ministry that we were confused, anything, so that they will leave us alone. After this meeting, I want you to hide or destroy anything to do with us, so we are nothing more than a memory. Is that clear?"  
  
There was a resounding yes; the leader went on.  
  
"Fine. Now, we have another matter, the baby."  
  
At the mention of baby, Vicky rushed forward; William and Simon weren't quick enough to catch her. The society turned and watched the mad woman run across to them.  
  
"You have my baby?"  
  
The leader turned to look at her and sneered, "a mad muggle woman. Someone dispose of her."  
  
Another cloaked figure stepped forward and drew his wand.  
  
At that point, William Arthur rushed in and pulled out his wand, screaming, "Leave her alone."  
  
He was closely followed by Simon Lark, who also had his wand out.  
  
There was a flash and the cloaked figure had fallen back. The society then, formed a line and drew their wands.  
  
The leader stepped forward, and looked at the two wizards.  
  
"Ah, Simon Lark and friends. Members of our opposition, no less. I saw your article about us in the paper, Lark, very powerful stuff."  
  
"Shame, you're dark lord wasn't," Simon Lark retorted.  
  
The leader stopped and sighed heavily before continuing in a forced polite tone, "I'm so glad you could join us, for our final meeting."  
  
"It will be, once we tell the Ministry of Magic," William Arthur called out. The death eaters all laughed together.  
  
"And what makes you think, you'll get the chance?" The leader asked, William and Simon couldn't see underneath the robe, but they were sure that he was smirking.  
  
The leader walked forward and grabbed Vicky by the hair; she didn't struggle but turned and started to sing, that familiar tune.  
  
"Stupid woman," he shouted and threw her back on the floor. He then turned his attentions to the others, "any famous last words?"  
  
William stood tall and remained silent.  
  
Simon looked at the death eaters and spoke loudly, so they could all hear, "your great dark lord was defeated by a child. The all powerful one, the one that couldn't be stopped and look at him now, oh wait, you can't," Simon paused, to gauge their reaction but nothing stirred, so he continued, "with him out of power, how do his worms expect to live?" He smiled and held his head high.  
  
The leader stepped forward and smacked Simon across the face with his wand, "How dare you!"  
  
He paused for a moment and then thinking of something, said in a low voice, "we worms know how to survive, we'll live. You on the other hand, won't have that pleasure," with that he raised his wand and the other death eaters followed suit.  
  
Vicky looked up at her executioners and sensed the severity of the situation and she got up and stood tall with the other two.  
  
"Now!" the leader screamed. A blinding flash of green light filled the warehouse and it was over.  
  
***  
  
Gwen walked back up the stairs, the book clutched to her chest.  
  
After the mention of the three deaths, everyone had closed up; no one spoke for a long time.  
  
Eventually, Alfred had told her to go and revise her spells, Gwen had sadly agreed.  
  
She set the photo album on her desk, but couldn't bear to look at it and pushed it aside.  
  
As she did, a piece of paper fell out of the album. It was an old "Daily Prophet" clipping.  
  
The headline read, "Death Eaters claim another Three Victims."  
  
She read on, but she already knew who the victims were, Simon Lark, William Arthur and Victoria Aldan. Gwen scanned the article, finally coming to the last paragraph, which read:  
  
"The two wizards and witch were Simon Lark, a writer for the "Daily Prophet", William Arthur and Victoria Aldan. They were found by muggle authorities in a muggle warehouse, yesterday night. The Ministry Of Magic said it was a great tragedy and that after the incident with You-Know-Who, they had hoped that the killings would have stopped. Cornelius Fudge made a plea to the magic world, saying it was now imperative that we find the rest of the death eaters and once and for all, bring an end to this sad chapter in magic history. This reporter would like to express his condolences to the families of the deceased. It really was a great loss and hopefully those responsible will come to justice."  
  
As she finished reading, Gwen felt so angry that she vowed to herself that she would avenge these deaths and somewhere, deep inside, she knew she could, that she had it within her power.  
  
She placed the clipping back inside the album and was about to go downstairs, when she heard the faint noise of sobbing, Nancy's and Maggie's sobbing.  
  
She imagined them down in the kitchen, the three of them, Nancy and Maggie weeping quietly and Arthur sitting motionless, with silent tears running down his face.  
  
Gwen closed the door and collapsed on the floor, closing her eyes, trying to shut out the world. 


	6. Halloween Hair

Chapter Six  
  
A week passed, then two, until it was Halloween and things seemed to have settled down. The past conservation seemed to have been erased from everyone's mind.  
  
"Gwen!" Maggie called from the kitchen; she then heard the familiar bang on the ground, as Gwen jumped the last two steps.  
  
"Happy Halloween!" Maggie yelled, when she saw her.  
  
Gwen looked at Maggie; she was wearing a bright orange apron with little black pumpkins all over it. On the front were the words, "Kiss the Witch," she'd obviously been to the local muggle shop.  
  
Scarlett Wood was 15 minutes walk from a small, sleepy muggle village. Gwen often went there, to pick up normal muggle things, like magazines and sweets.  
  
She looked around the kitchen and it'd been decorated with orange streamers and also small pumpkins were dotted around.  
  
Alfred and Nancy had also got the Halloween bug as well; Nancy was wearing a pointed witch's hat and also stripy stockings. Alfred had put on a fake hooked nose and dusted his face white.  
  
"Look at you," Gwen said, laughing at the sight.  
  
"We thought, we'd indulge some of the muggles' Halloween fantasies," Alfred said, trying to look serious, but his nose was coming off and it was hanging over his mouth.  
  
Gwen burst into fits of giggles and so, did everyone else, laughter is contagious after all. This was the first time, they'd all laughed for a while.  
  
***  
  
"Dumbledore, he's planning something."  
  
Arabella Figg said, staring at the old wizard.  
  
"I know, Arabella. But we mustn't jump to any conclusions; we must wait for the rest of the order," Dumbledore replied.  
  
"I know. what about the merlin? Where is she?"  
  
"She's with Alfred, Nancy and Maggie."  
  
Arabella raised her eyebrows in surprise, "but I thought they retired from the order. After the incident with."  
  
Dumbledore saw her sad expression and continued, "yes, I know. But the merlin is Vicky Aldan's child."  
  
Arabella nodded, "such a tragedy. She was a talent, such a shame, when she went.," she paused and decided not to mention it, "well.anyway, it was very sad, when we lost her and all because of the child's father. Does no one know his identity?" She enquired turning to face Dumbledore.  
  
"No, no one knows. I think I may ask them to bring her here.that way, they can help us and also Gwen can.will be safer here."  
  
Arabella nodded in agreement, "that girl has a hard road ahead of her. Let's hope she is strong enough, to survive it."  
  
"Let's hope," Dumbledore repeated in a low voice.  
  
***  
  
It was about six o'clock in the evening and everyone had gathered round the table in the kitchen. The day had been filled with apple bobbing, pin the wart on the witch and sweet scoffing.  
  
"I couldn't eat another one," Gwen said, pushing the plate of sweets towards Maggie.  
  
"More for me then," Maggie said, happily stuffing another into her mouth.  
  
"Hmm.I think it's time for presents," Alfred said, getting up quickly and walking towards the window, opening it.  
  
"Presents?" Gwen said, surprised, "I didn't know, you get presents on Halloween."  
  
"You don't really. But since this is your first Halloween with us, we thought it was fitting, you had something to remember it by," Nancy said, her hands already holding a small wooden box, which had been hidden in her robes.  
  
"Wait, for me," Maggie said, swallowing the last jelly bean.  
  
She rushed out of the room and after a minute or so, came back in, holding something behind her back.  
  
Gwen didn't know what to say, Nancy and Maggie took this opportunity and stepped forward, holding the presents towards her. Alfred however remained at the window, looking on at the scene.  
  
Gwen instantly recognised what Maggie's was and could hardly believe it. She ripped the brown paper off and held the broomstick in her hands. "Nimbus 2002," was engraved on the handle in gold letters.  
  
"I know it's not the best. But.," Maggie started but then Gwen leapt up and threw her hands around the old woman's neck and hugged her tightly, saying loudly, "thank you, Maggie. I love it."  
  
Maggie a little taken aback by this display of emotion said gently, "now you have your own, there's no excuse for borrowing mine or Nancy's."  
  
Gwen beamed brightly and turned to Nancy, who had placed the wooden box on the table.  
  
Gwen walked over and opened the box gently, inside was a small wooden flute, with the initials VA, inscribed onto the side. It was the flute from her dream.  
  
"It was your mother's, she made it herself. She made the most wonderful music on it," Nancy said, her eyes glazing over with tears.  
  
Gwen picked out the flute and blew it gently, a soft, reedy noise came out and Gwen instantly felt more relaxed.  
  
"Thank you Nancy. It's wonderful," Gwen hugged the fragile old woman gently.  
  
"Where's your gift?" Maggie asked, folding her arms and looking at Alfred with an intense stare, "you didn't forget, did you?" She added, with a look that suggesting that she wouldn't be surprised if he had.  
  
"Course not," Alfred replied flatly, he then put his two index fingers to his mouth and let out a high whistle.  
  
For a moment, there was silence, then there was a beating of wings and a large brown owl came and rested on the window still.  
  
"For you, Gwen," Alfred said, triumphantly, smirking at Maggie.  
  
"Wow, my own owl," Gwen said, walking towards the window still and stroking the owl gently, the owl reciprocated by nestling it's head gently into her hand.  
  
Gwen had learnt all about owls from Alfred, how witches and wizards used them to send messages to each other. Shame, I don't have anyone to send a message to, Gwen thought.  
  
"So, what are you going to name him?" Alfred asked, the others looked in inquisitively. Gwen peered at the owl and thought hard before saying, "Jasper."  
  
The owl hooted in agreement and Alfred, Nancy and Maggie nodded, saying that it was nice name for the owl.  
  
Gwen carried her gifts upstairs, though when she tried to bring Jasper inside, he'd backed away and taken flight. Alfred reassured her that he would be back and that he just needed to get used to her.  
  
But then when she entered her room, there he was, perched on her window still, giving her a what took you so long look.  
  
Gwen collapsed on her bed and fell asleep with her broomstick and flute clutched to her chest, Jasper watching over her, cooing gently.  
  
***  
  
The next couple of days passed uneventfully until one morning.  
  
Gwen was looking at herself in the mirror and fiddling with her hair, like a normal teenage girl.  
  
"What's wrong?" Maggie asked, coming and dumping some laundry on Gwen's bed.  
  
"I think I need a hair cut or. I need a change," Gwen said, throwing her hands down in annoyance.  
  
"I think you look lovely, the way you are," Maggie said, folding some clothes into a drawer.  
  
"Thanks. But.," Gwen said, pushing her face into the mirror, examining her skin.  
  
"Hang on," Maggie said, dropping the clothes and walking towards Gwen, with her wand out.  
  
"What you going to do?" Gwen said, looking sceptical. She'd never really seen Maggie use her wand before.  
  
"Don't worry. Instead of a hair cut, how about a colour change?" Maggie said, excitedly, "we used to do this all the time, when I was a young witch."  
  
Before Gwen could say another thing, Maggie had raised her wand and said in loud voice, "Oris."  
  
Gwen's hair then started to gradually get lighter, until it was a light blonde colour.  
  
"What do you think?" Maggie asked proudly.  
  
Gwen could hardly believe what she was seeing; she turned her head to the side and then back again, admiring her new blonde hair in the mirror.  
  
"Can you colour anything else?" Gwen asked, wishing she had her own wand so, she could do this all the time.  
  
"Umm.,"Maggie pondered for a moment, "what colour eyes have you always wanted?"  
  
"Blue," Gwen squealed.  
  
Maggie repeated the spell and her eyes turned a deep blue colour. As she gazed at herself, in the mirror, she looked suspiciously like someone she knew, Annabelle.  
  
Maggie excited by her triumph pointed her wand at Gwen again, "how about this look? Different enough?"  
  
Gwen's hair turned an acid green and her eyes turned blood red.  
  
At first, she recoiled in disgust at what she saw but eventually saw the funny side and laughed, Maggie joined in and the both of them, stood in hysterics.  
  
Jasper, who was perched on her bed post, tilted his head not recognising his new master.  
  
At this point, Nancy came in, slightly out of breath.  
  
"Guess what?" She said excitedly, "we're going to Hogsmeade," she said, not noticing Gwen's new look.  
  
Maggie spun around quickly and started to talk to Nancy.  
  
"Wow, Hogsmeade," Gwen said a loud, she'd read all about it in her books and also it'd be nice to have a change of scenery.  
  
"Your hair!" Nancy shouted, finally noticing the green haired girl.  
  
"Oh don't be such a drama queen," Maggie said, walking over to Gwen, "disoris," she exclaimed.  
  
They waited but nothing, Gwen's hair and eyes remained the same.  
  
"Disoris," Maggie said again, but still not one hair or iris changed. Gwen started to get scared; she didn't want to look like this for the rest of her life.  
  
Nancy's brow furrowed, while Maggie started mumbling to herself.  
  
"I've got it. I'll just colour your hair back to normal," she raised her wand but Nancy stepped in.  
  
"Oh no, if you use anymore magic on her hair, it'll fall out. No."  
  
"But.I'm sure."Maggie started.  
  
"No. Gwen." she turned to face the girl, who was nearly in tears, "I'm afraid you're going to have wait, 'till the spell wears off."  
  
Gwen couldn't believe it, "how long does it take, to wear off?"  
  
"Umm. hours." Maggie said, but she didn't seem sure, "maybe.days.weeks.maybe even." she took a deep breath, "months."  
  
Gwen stood still, the word still echoing in her head and then a thought came to her, "I'm not going to Hogsmeade like this. No way. I'm not going. Understand? No way."  
  
Gwen folded her arms, she wasn't going to give in, she was going to stand her ground.  
  
***  
  
"You look fine," Alfred said, trying to reassure Gwen.  
  
"I do not," Gwen said, still in a mood.  
  
She was wearing her new blue long robes, an over-sized fishing hat to hide her hair and a pair of Maggie's old reading glasses, which Alfred had charmed. So, to on-lookers, her eyes appeared brown.  
  
Gwen looked far from alright, she looked stupid.  
  
They were sitting in the Shrieking Shack, waiting for an old friend of Alfred's, someone called Albus Dumbledore.  
  
He was late.  
  
Then from nowhere, a man of about the same age as Alfred, appeared. He had a long white beard and was wearing a dark purple robe.  
  
He smiled as he saw Alfred, the two men shook hands warmly and he nodded politely at Nancy and Maggie.  
  
Alfred then gestured to Gwen, "this is Gwen Aldan, Albus."  
  
Dumbledore sat down and looked at Gwen, smiling, "hello Gwen. I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts."  
  
At the mention of Hogwarts, Gwen sat up a little straighter, ever since Alfred had mentioned it; she had become fascinated with the school.  
  
"Now then," Dumbledore said, "how about some butter beers?"  
  
Gwen nodded, even though she didn't know what they were. Dumbledore gestured to the bartender and continued to talk, "then we can get back to Hogwarts."  
  
"We're going to Hogwarts?" Gwen burst out.  
  
"Yes. Why, don't you want to?" Maggie said.  
  
"Of course I do," Gwen said loudly, causing some of the other customers to look at her.  
  
The others chuckled kindly at the young witch's enthusiasm. Gwen didn't mind, she was just excited about going to Hogwarts, except she wished she wasn't dressed like this.  
  
***  
  
"Here we are," Dumbledore said, walking into his office.  
  
Gwen walked in, completely amazed at Hogwarts.  
  
It was better than she had expected, the grounds, the lake, the castle, everything, it was the most magical place she had ever been.  
  
She then noticed an old woman with dark grey hair, standing next to the window.  
  
"Arabella," Nancy said, walking towards the woman and hugging her gently.  
  
The woman smiled and then she moved over to look at Gwen.  
  
"Hello, I'm Arabella Figg. I'm the teacher for the defence against the dark arts," she extended her hand towards Gwen and she took it.  
  
Gwen wasn't sure what to say, there was something mysterious about this woman and she mumbled quietly, "Gwen Aldan."  
  
Dumbledore settled down in his chair and leaned back; a phoenix came and settled on his shoulder. Gwen recognised it instantly, it was beautiful.  
  
Dumbledore noticed the awe on Gwen's face, "impressive, isn't he? His name is Fawkes. Anyway, what do you think of the school?"  
  
Gwen didn't know where to begin, so, she launched into a high speed babble, including everything she'd thought or would ever think.  
  
When she'd finished, Dumbledore laughed and turned to the others, who just smiled back. "Well I'm glad, the new Merlin likes it so much," he said.  
  
Gwen had never heard anyone else say the word "merlin" before. She wondered how many other people knew her real identity.  
  
"Gwen," Maggie said, "go outside for a minute. We just need to talk to Albus and Arabella about something."  
  
Gwen was puzzled with the sudden secrecy but she obediently went outside.  
  
***  
  
Gwen leaned onto the door but couldn't quite hear what was being said.  
  
Dumbledore probably had a charm on it which prevented eavesdroppers, eavesdropping, she thought to herself.  
  
As she looked down the long corridor, she heard voices, student voices, she edged closer, she'd never seen any witches or wizards her own age.  
  
She glanced round a corner and saw two boys and a girl.  
  
The girl had brown frizzy hair and was carrying a ton of books and she seemed to be lecturing the other two about something.  
  
The first boy was tall and had bright red hair and lots of freckles; he had bored expression on his face which made Gwen laugh silently to herself.  
  
The other boy was also quite tall and had a mop of jet black hair which was quite scruffy.  
  
As they came closer, she could see that he also had round glasses and bright green eyes, she was also able to pick up some of their conversation.  
  
"Really, you two, I can't believe you haven't studied," the girl said.  
  
The red haired boy spoke, "come on, I don't want to miss lunch."  
  
The girl looked at him and let out a grunt that she wasn't impressed.  
  
"Now you two," the green eyed boy said, laughing a little, before they all disappeared round another corridor.  
  
"Gwen," a voice said from behind her. She turned around and saw the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore.  
  
"Did I frighten you? I'm sorry," he said gently.  
  
"It's ok," Gwen replied, looking around but couldn't see Alfred, Maggie or Nancy anywhere. "Where are." Gwen started but Dumbledore seemed to have anticipated the question.  
  
"They went back to Hogsmeade. They had some business to settle. They'll be back tomorrow, so you'll be staying here for the meanwhile. You don't mind, do you?"  
  
"No," Gwen replied.  
  
"Ok, now to lunch," Dumbledore said quickly, walking off, Gwen followed.  
  
"This is the great hall," Dumbledore said, indicating to room, where she could hear a loud mixture of voices.  
  
He continued towards the room and Gwen walked behind him, as they entered there was a hushed silence as the room inspected the new arrival into their school.  
  
Gwen felt a million eyes on her and pulled the hat further down on her face.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the girl and the two boys, she wanted to smile but her face remained still.  
  
Dumbledore strode on, as if nothing was different and they made their way to the top table. He seated himself in the middle chair and indicated a chair next to his, for Gwen to sit.  
  
"Good afternoon, students," Dumbledore bellowed, "now today, we are privileged, as we have a guest. Let me introduce Gwen Aldan."  
  
Gwen smiled weakly; she'd never been so embarrassed in her life.  
  
Dumbledore however didn't seem to notice and kept talking, "anyway enough talk. Let's eat."  
  
Then all of a sudden, food started to appear on the plates in front of them.  
  
Gwen was stunned but tried not to show it and started to eat the food, which was delicious, almost as good as Maggie's cooking she thought.  
  
Gwen looked down at the other teachers seated at the table and saw Arabella Figg, at the other end. The woman smiled at her.  
  
Then she noticed the old woman next to her, looking at her.  
  
She turned her head and smiled but the woman's expression didn't change.  
  
She then extended a hand, "I'm Minerva McGonagall," Gwen took it and shook it firmly, the woman then turned away.  
  
Dumbledore then turned to face the other professor and said casually, "this is the new Merlin."  
  
The professor nodded knowingly, like she'd expected to hear this.  
  
Then she carried on with her dinner without another glance at Gwen.  
  
***  
  
"Who do you think she is?" Hermione asked, staring up at the new girl.  
  
"I dunno. She can't be a new teacher; she looks the same age as us," Ron added, tucking into his lunch.  
  
Harry peered at the new girl and saw the embarrassed look, he so often wore, she obviously didn't like the attention that was being paid to her by the students.  
  
"What is with the hat and the glasses?" Fred said, laughing slightly at the odd attire the girl had chosen to wear.  
  
"Maybe she has snakes for hair and she needs to keep them hidden," Neville offered, everyone stared at him and he turned slightly pink.  
  
"I think she's a student from another wizarding school. Maybe she's thinking of moving to Hogwarts," Hermione said.  
  
"I didn't know you could change schools," Harry said quietly.  
  
"I wonder which house she'll be in?" Ron said, looking around the room at the other houses.  
  
"Hopefully not ours, we don't need any weirdoes." Fred said, stealing one of George's potatoes.  
  
"Yeah. Hopefully not Slytherin either, no one deserves that," George said, taking the potato back.  
  
Harry looked at the Slytherin table and hoped that she didn't go to that house; he could imagine the ridicule she would have to suffer at Malfoy's hand and George was right, no one deserved that.  
  
***  
  
Gwen made her way up to the West Tower, where she was supposed to meet Professor Trelawney, the divination teacher.  
  
As she wandered around the corridors, she found herself getting more and more lost, Dumbledore had written her some instructions as to where go but they weren't helping.  
  
Then she saw the girl and the boys again, they were walking just in front of her.  
  
It was now or never, Gwen thought.  
  
"Excuse me," she called, the three stopped and turned around, "hi.do you know where Professor Trelawney's classroom is, please?" Gwen asked nervously.  
  
At first they looked at her curiously but then the girl spoke, "yeah. We'll show you," she walked on and Gwen followed her.  
  
"By the way, I'm Ron Weasley," the red haired boy said, walking alongside Gwen, "this is Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter."  
  
Gwen stopped for a second and looked at the green eyed boy, "Harry Potter?"  
  
"Yes," he replied, he looked nervously down at the floor.  
  
Gwen peered at the boy, she couldn't believe that she was looking at the boy that lived, she had a million questions to ask but sensing his embarrassment, she stopped herself.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Gwen said, holding out her hand, he took it and looked at her with a puzzled look on his face.  
  
She then carried on walking, trying to keep up with Hermione.  
  
"So," Ron said, "what school do you go to?"  
  
"I don't go to school," Gwen replied, trying to sound casual about it.  
  
The three stopped again and Hermione seemed extremely shocked.  
  
"You don't go to school? So, you're not a witch?" She asked, with her mouth wide open.  
  
"No, I am. It's just I don't go to a wizarding school, I have three guardians instead. They teach me everything," Gwen said, trying to avoid the stares that the other three were giving her.  
  
"I wish I had three guardians. Anything to avoid Snape," Ron said, started to walk again.  
  
"Who's Snape?" Gwen asked.  
  
She saw Harry's face flinch when he heard the name.  
  
"Oh, he's the potions master. He's pale and mean and hates Gryffindors," Ron said, with hatred all over his face.  
  
"Now you don't know he hates Gryffindors," Hermione said, staring at Ron, over her books.  
  
Ron merely rolled his eyes.  
  
"I wish I came to Hogwarts," Gwen said quietly, she looked up and caught Harry's eye, they both blushed.  
  
"So, why do you have guardians then?" Hermione asked, picking up a book, she'd just dropped.  
  
"Oh, because I'm a merlin," Gwen said quickly, not really thinking about what she'd just said.  
  
Hermione dropped all her books and Ron stood with his mouth so wide open, a train could have passed through it.  
  
Harry seemed to be the only one, not stunned at that piece of news.  
  
He started to pick up Hermione's books and Gwen helped him.  
  
"You're really a merlin?" Hermione said, taking back the books that Harry and Gwen had just picked up. "That's what they tell me," Gwen said, gaining some confidence.  
  
She smiled at Harry and he beamed back at her.  
  
"There you are," a shrill voice cried out and a colourfully decorated woman appeared, walking up to Gwen.  
  
"Gwen Aldan," the woman said, "I'm Professor Trelawney." Gwen didn't know what to say. "Come on then."  
  
She ushered Gwen down the corridor, she turned back and said to the other three, "I think you're going to be late."  
  
***  
  
The next 4 hours were spent making predictions for the future and drawing up charts. Professor Trelawney seemed intent on testing Gwen's powers.  
  
Gwen didn't really mind, to her it was another divination lesson except with another teacher.  
  
At the end, Trelawney exclaimed, "you truly have a gift. You are a merlin."  
  
Gwen started to blush.  
  
"Excuse me, Professor."  
  
Gwen turned and was confronted with a giant of a man with a dark tangled beard, which matched his hair.  
  
"Yes, Hagrid?" Trelawney said, tapping her fingers on the table, "well, I've come ter take Gwen 'ere to lunch," Hagrid said, looking down at Gwen.  
  
"Oh, very well," Trelawney said, getting up and looking slightly tired, "I will see you soon, Gwen."  
  
She added looking down at a tea cup. Gwen wasn't sure if this was prediction or just her, being friendly.  
  
"Com' on," Hagrid said, leading Gwen down the stairs.  
  
When they'd both got down from Professor Trelawney's classroom, Hagrid turned to face her, rubbed his hand on his trousers and held it out to her, "Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of the Keys and teacher of Care of Magical Creatures," Gwen took the large hand and shook it.  
  
"I'm Gwen Aldan. Keeper of Nothing and carer of myself."  
  
Hagrid guffawed loudly, "so, merlins 'ave a sense of humour."  
  
Gwen smiled back at the gentle giant and they proceeded onto the great hall.  
  
***  
  
"Wow, a merlin," Fred said, highly impressed.  
  
"I don't really understand," Harry said.  
  
After the meeting with Gwen, Ron had spread the news about the merlin all around the school and now everyone was talking about it.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ron said.  
  
"I mean, what is a merlin?" Harry said, rather sheepishly, being the only one that didn't know.  
  
Hermione sighed but replied, "a merlin is an extremely rare type of witch or wizard, that can see into the future. They get their powers when they're 16 and they're supposed to be descended from Merlin, himself."  
  
"Do you think she's knows our futures?" George said quickly.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe," Hermione said.  
  
Everyone sat back; they could hardly imagine anyone knowing their futures.  
  
Maybe she knows Voldermort's future, thought Harry but he didn't say it out loud.  
  
Seamus then called out to Ron, "you met her didn't you?"  
  
"Yeah I did," Ron replied proudly.  
  
A million questions were then flung at Ron, all about what the merlin was like. He was a little overwhelmed.  
  
Then there was silence as Gwen and Hagrid walked in and made their way up to the top table and sat down.  
  
As they seated themselves, the whispers and the talking started up again.  
  
Gwen could see their faces, all watching her, it wasn't like before, they were now interested in her.  
  
She took the seat next to Dumbledore again, he was already there and he seemed happy about the excitement.  
  
Dumbledore turned to Gwen, "I'm afraid you're identity has been revealed. Would you mind, if I made it official, to save any more confusion?"  
  
Gwen didn't know what to say, so she simply nodded.  
  
Dumbledore stood up, brushed something off his robe and started to talk, "I know many of you have heard something about our guest and I want to take this opportunity to tell you, that it is true. Gwen is indeed a merlin."  
  
The room exploded with more voices.  
  
"Now, I don't want anyone to bother Gwen while she is here. Any questions you have, you can save for the teachers."  
  
The other professors all stared at Gwen; one professor in particular gave her a vicious look, Professor Snape, she guessed.  
  
***  
  
Harry felt sorry for Gwen; he knew what it was like to be in the spotlight. Then out of a corner of his eye, something caught his attention.  
  
"Do you think she's actually going to be in our school?" Ginny asked excitedly.  
  
"Maybe," Hermione said, her tone had become lighter.  
  
"Imagine if she was in our house," Fred said, even though a couple of hours before, that would have been the last thing he'd wanted.  
  
"Harry Potter and a merlin in our house," George said, "we'd be the best, no doubt about it. Eh, Harry?" He said, pointing his knife at the boy.  
  
"Yeah," Harry replied, not really hearing the question, his mind was somewhere else, make that his eyes were on someone else, Cho Chang that is.  
  
He still hadn't quite given up his crush on her, and now for the first time, he had a good view of her, from his table. There she was with her perfect dark hair and perfect face.  
  
"Excuse me," it was Gwen.  
  
The Gryffindor table froze, all watching Gwen closely.  
  
"Hermione," she turned her head towards the stunned girl, who was holding her knife and fork in mid air.  
  
Still no reply from anybody, Gwen decided to keep talking, "Umm.Professor McGonagall said you would help me find a spare bed in the girls' dorms in Gryffindor," Gwen glanced around the table, but nobody seemed to be making a move or a sound.  
  
"Umm.hello?" Gwen said, waving a hand in front of them.  
  
Hermione finally snapped out of it and dropped her knife and fork with a clatter, "sorry. We were.um.I haven't quite finished my dinner yet. Do you mind sitting down and waiting for a minute?" She said, moving up, so Gwen could sit down.  
  
"Yeah, no problem," Gwen said, sitting down, feeling everyone's eyes on her.  
  
For a few seconds, everyone had kept silent, but then from nowhere, they all burst out with questions, "how does it feel?"  
  
"What's my future?"  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
Gwen didn't know, who to answer first.  
  
"I think that's quite enough," Professor McGonagall boomed, she was standing behind Ron, who jumped slightly at the sound of her voice, "I think, it's time you went back to the Gryffindor common room."  
  
She started to walk away but then stopped, "and, no more questions. Or do you want to disobey Dumbledore's direct orders?" She looked over the Gryffindor table once more, before walking off.  
  
"I didn't realise it was an order," George said, saluting McGonagall's back.  
  
"Come on everyone, let's go," Fred said, getting up, everyone followed.  
  
The group of them made their way quickly up to the entrance to the dorms. The Fat Lady was standing there, looking them all over when her gaze fell onto Gwen.  
  
"Who are you?" She said, a little snobbishly, looking down at the girl.  
  
"I'm Gwen Aldan. I'll be staying here for the night," Gwen replied nervously.  
  
"You're.the new merlin," The Fat Lady said, with a look similar to the one that McGonagall had, had when she'd found out Gwen was a merlin.  
  
"Yes she is and she's staying in the Gryffindor House," George shouted proudly.  
  
The Fat Lady ignored him, "this, is an honour," The Fat Lady said and curtsied, not very gracefully though.  
  
She then swung open, "in you go," she said to Gwen, the girl walked in and as soon as she had, the Fat Lady swung shut again.  
  
"Hey, open up," Fred shouted.  
  
"Sorry. Password?" The Fat Lady said, not impressed by Fred's outburst.  
  
"Gwen didn't need one," Ron piped up.  
  
"Well, are you a merlin?" The Fat Lady asked.  
  
"No," he replied quietly.  
  
"Then password, please?"  
  
"Oh, Leo Cor." Hermione said, she didn't want to be here all night.  
  
The Fat Lady swung open and everyone walked in.  
  
They found Gwen surrounded by fellow Gryffindors, full of questions. Gwen looked over at Harry and by the strained look on her face; Harry thought she wanted some help.  
  
"Hey," Fred and George shouted, pushing the children out of the way and letting Gwen out.  
  
"Thanks," Gwen said, letting out a breath, "I didn't know where you guys went. Then all these people came up to me."  
  
"Hey," Fred said, pushing another kid away.  
  
George and him then begun ushering children away from Gwen.  
  
"I didn't realise people would get so excited about me," Gwen said, collapsing into an armchair.  
  
Ron, Harry and Hermione took the remaining armchairs and stared at the girl.  
  
"So, how long are you here for?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I'm supposed to be going back tomorrow," Gwen answered.  
  
"Umm. can I ask you a question?" Ron said, his ears were tinged pink; he was obviously a little uncomfortable.  
  
Gwen looked at him and was about to say something when he interrupted, "it's not about being a merlin."  
  
"Ok then," Gwen said, leaning back into the soft chair.  
  
"Why do you have that hat on?"  
  
Now it was Gwen's turn to be uncomfortable, "oh, well.do you promise not to tell anyone?" She finally said, leaning in.  
  
The other three huddled in and Gwen pulled a strand of her hair out of her hat, they gasped at the acid green colour.  
  
"What happened to.," Ron yelled.  
  
"Ssshh." Hermione said quickly.  
  
"I mean, what happened to your hair?" Ron said, quieter this time.  
  
"An accident with a spell," Gwen replied in a hushed voice.  
  
"Oh, so your hair's not always that colour?" Harry said.  
  
"Course not," Gwen said, laughing, "I'm not a freak, just a merlin."  
  
Then all four of all them burst into laughter.  
  
***  
  
"So, what have you got for me?" Voldermort said, fiddling with a bone in his hands.  
  
Wormtail edged closer to his master, "she's at Hogwarts."  
  
He braced himself for an outburst of rage or violence but nothing. He looked at his master who was calmly sitting in his chair.  
  
"I see. an unexpected twist in the plot. But, it isn't altogether a bad one," Voldermort sat back and idly threw the bone aside.  
  
He then leapt forward, causing Wormtail to fall backwards, "always so jumpy. Why so jumpy, Wormtail?" the dark lord said softly, almost sounding human.  
  
"I'm not jumpy," Wormtail replied, wiping the sweat off his forehead.  
  
"Now Wormtail, you know better than to lie to me, don't you?" Voldermort got up and stood in front of him.  
  
"I'm sorry," Wormtail said, his voice sounded strained.  
  
"Well, I'll overlook it, this one time. But, next time.," Voldermort drew his wand and ran the tip down Wormtail's cheek.  
  
The rat breathed in and it took all strength to prevent himself from fainting.  
  
"Now," Voldermort said, sitting back down, "I want you to get Morfal and Lafrom for me." "Morfal and Lafrom?" Wormtail said again.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But.," Wormtail stuttered.  
  
"Are you saying that you can't do this for me?" Voldermort said loudly, staring so intently at his servant that he could have killed him, just by looking at him this way.  
  
"No, course not, master," Wormtail said, sweating even more.  
  
"Good. Go then," Voldermort said, indicating the door with his wand.  
  
Wormtail scampered to the door, relieved he had survived another encounter with his master. 


	7. The Order

Chapter Seven  
  
Gwen woke up the next day and gazed at the stone walls, for a moment she forgot that she was a merlin and that she was different. She looked over at the other girls in the dorm and felt normal.  
  
Then she was rudely pulled back into reality, "Gwen Aldan," Professor McGonagall appeared in the doorway, "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you."  
  
The other girls in the room had woken up and were staring at Gwen and Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Come along," McGonagall said impatiently.  
  
Gwen lazily got out of bed and pulled on her shoes and robe, then placed her glasses, carefully, so that no one saw her eyes.  
  
She then made sure all her hair was securely in her hat before walking out of the door.  
  
McGonagall looked at the other girls, "Stop staring and get up. I don't want any Gryffindors late for class." With that she closed the door and led Gwen to Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Bumblebee," McGonagall said, pushing Gwen into the room, before walking off down the corridor.  
  
"Hello Gwen," Dumbledore said, when Gwen had entered. She looked around the office and instantly saw Nancy, Maggie and Alfred.  
  
"So, are we leaving now?" Gwen said in a voice which was a mixture of disappointment, at having to leave Hogwarts but also happiness, as she'd missed Alfred, Nancy, Maggie and Scarlett Wood.  
  
"Umm.," Alfred said, his voice seemed a little shaky.  
  
Maggie and Nancy also seemed a little on edge, they also looked exhausted.  
  
"There's been a change of plan. We've still got some things to do and we thought it better if you stay." Alfred stopped, thinking about what to say next.  
  
"Why can't I go with you?" Gwen asked, she looked at them but by the look on their faces, she could tell, that wouldn't be a good idea.  
  
"I don't think so, Gwen. It's just."  
  
"Are you in trouble?" Everyone seemed surprised by her question.  
  
"Is this about Voldermort? Has he come back?" Gwen now was even surprised with her new found perception.  
  
"Yes," Dumbledore said, he laced his fingers together, deep in thought.  
  
"I'm a merlin, aren't I?" Gwen said, folding her arms across her chest. Nancy began to say something but stopped and nodded.  
  
"So, shouldn't I be included these plans?"  
  
Gwen couldn't believe she was saying this, she didn't really want to face the dark lord, she didn't even have a wand. But something inside her, was taking over and Gwen didn't really mind.  
  
Dumbledore spoke first, "I think Gwen's right. She should be told but not right now." Gwen wanted to ask why she couldn't be told now, but Dumbledore kept talking.  
  
"In the meantime Nancy, Alfred and Maggie will continue with their business and Gwen you will remain here at Hogwarts."  
  
"Remain at Hogwarts, for how long?" Gwen asked.  
  
"Only for a couple of months, dear. We'll come back," Nancy said quietly, smiling.  
  
"That's right. We'll come get you after your birthday," Maggie added.  
  
"We'd better be going," Alfred said, getting up and walking towards the door, he paused when he reached Gwen. "Be careful," he whispered in her ear, as he hugged her tightly.  
  
Gwen then hugged the others in turn as they left the room. "Dumbledore,"  
  
"Yes, Gwen."  
  
"What am I supposed to do here at Hogwarts? Am I going to be a student?" Gwen said her voice full of hope.  
  
"No, I don't want to interrupt your education with Alfred, Nancy and Maggie. Also, you don't have a wand, do you?"  
  
Gwen nodded sheepishly.  
  
"Precisely. I think for now, you can be a teacher's assistant."  
  
"To which professor?"  
  
"Professor Trelawney. You don't need a wand for that and she tells me, that you have a talent for it."  
  
Gwen blushed and smiled brightly at the headmaster, "So, do I get to be in a house?"  
  
Dumbledore looked up from his desk and picked up an old hat which was lying beside him, "I guess you should be in one, house spirit is very important here at Hogwarts. Put the sorting hat on, then."  
  
He handed the hat to Gwen and she put it on, it slipped over her forehead slightly.  
  
Then she heard a voice, "Well, a merlin. I don't believe it. Hmm.which house, let's see.,"  
  
Gwen sat for a few seconds, waiting; Dumbledore was also waiting for the outcome.  
  
Then she heard the voice again, "hmm.no house."  
  
"What?" Gwen said aloud, Dumbledore sat up and looked at the girl.  
  
"I said you don't belong in a house," the voice repeated.  
  
"But why?" Gwen said, she was puzzled.  
  
"Because you're empty, different."  
  
With that, the hat leapt off her head and fell back at Dumbledore's side.  
  
"So, what did it say?" Dumbledore asked, stroking Fawkes, who had just flown in.  
  
"It said, I don't belong in a house because I'm empty and different." Gwen said sadly.  
  
"I'm sorry. But just because you can't be in house, doesn't stop you from supporting one does it?"  
  
Gwen nodded glumly.  
  
"Well, you can't stay in the Gryffindor dorms anymore, can you?" Dumbledore said, writing on a little piece of paper.  
  
"But.," Gwen started but was silenced with a look from Dumbledore.  
  
"Here," Dumbledore said, handing her the piece of paper, "well, up to your room. Dinner is at 7."  
  
Gwen nodded and walked miserably back to her room.  
  
She found that her room was in an isolated part of the castle and that all her belongings were already inside. She found Jasper sitting on her bed post, waiting for her.  
  
"Hey, Jasper." She said, stroking the bird.  
  
The bird cooed and sensing Gwen wasn't in the best of moods, flew over to her broomstick and tapped it with his beak.  
  
Gwen looked up and went over and clutched the broom tightly in her hand.  
  
Then Jasper hooted and flew over to the window, she followed and saw the quidditch pitch just below.  
  
Flying would be a nice diversion, Gwen thought.  
  
She then walked down the corridors to the quidditch pitch.  
  
***  
  
"Morfal and Lafrom, how nice of you to come," Voldermort said, looking down at the two figures.  
  
They were identical in height and shape, with grey withered skin.  
  
They had hardly any features on their faces, just two black ovals for eyes, a bump for a nose and a slit for a mouth. The rest of them were covered in long brown cloaks.  
  
One of them spoke, "We are honoured to have been called to serve the great dark lord."  
  
Voldermort smiled, "I'm glad, you know where your loyalties lie."  
  
"Our loyalties lie with whoever has the right ideas about the future. We are most interested about your plan to bring back the lost craft of the dark arts," the other said, in a low voice.  
  
"Yes. I have many plans in the future but that is one that is close to your hearts, I know. Ever since your accident." Voldermort stopped and watched for their reaction, they remained still.  
  
He continued, "I have brought you here, to ask for your service."  
  
"We are here; ready to do your bidding," they spoke together.  
  
"Good. I ask you, to use your abilities to help me, with a little project of mine. Tell me, do you play quidditch?"  
  
The breeze blew against her face gently and she looked around and saw only the night's sky.  
  
Gwen felt better, after speeding around the pitch a few times, she was nearly able to block out the sorting hat's words, "empty" and "different."  
  
She sped around the pitch again and again, gaining speed. She imagined she was in a quidditch match and that she was the seeker, then she was a chaser.  
  
"Hey!" She looked down and saw the faces of Harry, Ron and Hermione looking up at her. Gwen steered her broom downwards and landed gracefully in front of Harry.  
  
"You're alright on a broomstick," Ron exclaimed, looking at with a new found respect.  
  
"Thanks. You guys, play quidditch?" Gwen said, a little tired.  
  
"Do we play quiddicth?" Ron said jokingly, elbowing Harry in the ribs. Harry pushed Ron's arm away from him, "I'm the seeker and Ron's the keeper for the Gryffindor team."  
  
Ron smiled proudly at Gwen.  
  
After Oliver Wood had left, they'd had to replace him with Ron, who wasn't great, but he was getting better.  
  
"Anyway, why you here?" Gwen said, leaning on her broomstick.  
  
"Oh, we were looking for you. When you didn't turn up for dinner, Professor McGonagall sent us, to look for you." Hermione said, pulling her cloak around her, it was getting colder.  
  
"Dinner, oh I completely forgot." Gwen said, getting off her broom.  
  
"You forgot dinner?" Ron said, his eyes wide open, "if I forgot dinner.actually I'd never forget dinner or lunch or."  
  
"Anything that involved food," Hermione said, finishing his sentence.  
  
Ron threw her a sarcastic smile and began walking back to the castle.  
  
" 'Arry!" Hagrid yelled, he strode over to the group. "What you doin' 'ere at this time? Oh, Gwen you're 'ere too. Professor Dumbledore wants to see you."  
  
Gwen looked at Harry and shrugged, she didn't know what was going on.  
  
"Come on an' you three," he said pointing at Ron, Hermione and Harry "You can go ter bed. Come on then," he said loudly, pushing them off the quidditch pitch.  
  
***  
  
This must be about the conversation earlier on, Gwen thought to herself.  
  
She was deep in thought, when she nearly bumped into Snape, who was coming out of Dumbledore's office, looking particularly foul. He shot her a particularly vicious look, as he walked past her.  
  
"Come in," she heard Dumbledore's voice call.  
  
Gwen walked in, not really knowing what to expect. Dumbledore was sitting in his chair and there were a bundle of letters and papers all around him.  
  
"Sit down," Dumbledore said and a chair appeared.  
  
Gwen sat down cautiously.  
  
"Well, Gwen I'm about to answer your question today."  
  
She smiled nervously.  
  
"Now, as you know, Voldermort's powers are on the rise and that he will eventually return to full strength, maybe even more so. Anyway, we have been thinking."  
  
"We?" Gwen said quietly.  
  
"I mean, the Order of the Phoenix."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"It is a league of powerful witches and wizards that are dedicated to the protection of our wizarding world and it's way of life. It was formed long ago, when another dark wizard was about to attack the wizarding world, Grindelwald."  
  
"But you defeated him."  
  
"Yes, but only just. Grindelwald was powerful but I fear, that Voldermort is even more so. Anyway, after Grindelwald was defeated, the league was disbanded. Then when Voldermort came, we regrouped; gathering new members and then Harry stepped in." he paused and stroked his beard before carrying on, "after that, we thought the order was no longer necessary. But last year, there was another encounter with Voldermort hich was far more seriously than we planned for. Harry only just survived that attack."  
  
"So, you, Nancy, Alfred, Maggie are all part of this Order of the Phoenix?" Gwen said, feeling nervous about what her role was going to be in all of this.  
  
"Yes. They are now finalising some plans and also gathering the last of the order."  
  
"Who else is part of this order?"  
  
Dumbledore looked around his desk and then handed Gwen, a roll of parchment.  
  
She unravelled the paper and began scanning the names.  
  
She saw Dumbledore's name, Maggie's, Alfred's, Nancy's and also the name Arabella Figgs. She remembered the old woman clearly and continued down the list.  
  
She noticed many of the names had been crossed out, witches and wizards that had probably died in battle, Gwen thought.  
  
She then came to another name, she recognised, Simon Lark. It had been crossed out and she thought back to the article then she saw the name, Victoria Aldan.  
  
"My mother was part of the order?"  
  
"Yes, she was a great witch before." He let the sentence trail off and she knew he meant before she'd lost her sanity.  
  
"Was my father part of the order as well?"  
  
Dumbledore sighed, "I don't know Gwen. I also do not know the identity of your father."  
  
Gwen fell back in her chair, frustrated. She was again denied information about her past.  
  
As she kept going down the list, she saw the names, Lily and James Potter, she guessed these were Harry's parents.  
  
Then she saw the final name, Sirius Black.  
  
"Sirius Black was part of the order?"  
  
"He still is," Dumbledore replied quietly.  
  
"But he's a murderer, he betrayed you," Gwen said loudly, she'd read the articles on him. "He's not what he seems."  
  
"But."  
  
Dumbledore held up a hand, indicating that there was to be no more talk about the subject. Gwen breathed heavily and moved on.  
  
"So, what do I have to do with this?" Gwen asked, her voice sounded a little disappointed, "well, I'm telling you firstly for your protection. As you know, he seems intent on killing Harry."  
  
Gwen shuddered at the thought and felt sorry for Harry, he must be so scared and under so much pressure.  
  
"But it now seems, that he wants you as well, Gwen."  
  
"Why does he want me dead?"  
  
"I don't think, he wants you dead but more that he wants you to join him."  
  
"I would never," Gwen cried out.  
  
Dumbledore smiled but his voice sounded a little pessimistic, "many wizards and witches have said those words but have fallen under the spell of the darker side."  
  
Gwen didn't know whether this was an insult or a statement.  
  
"But I'm sure your heart is good, Gwen," Dumbledore said.  
  
Gwen smiled but couldn't help thinking about what he'd just said.  
  
"Anyway, secondly, I am telling you because you may be called on to help."  
  
"Me?" Gwen said, her surprise apparent.  
  
"Do not underestimate yourself, Gwen. Do not forget you are merlin. Anyway, now you know, so to bed."  
  
Gwen still slightly stunned at the news, got up and started to walk out.  
  
"Gwen, one more thing," Dumbledore called, "here, seeing as you missed dinner."  
  
A plate with a chicken sandwich and a cup appeared.  
  
Gwen took them; she finally noticed how hungry she was.  
  
"Now, be at breakfast at eight thirty. Good night," he then waved her out and carried on with reading a letter.  
  
Gwen bit hungrily into the sandwich and thought that her time at Hogwarts was becoming more and more interesting by the minute. 


	8. Enemies

Chapter Eight  
  
A couple of weeks passed and Christmas was nearly here. Gwen had settled into her role at Hogwarts well.  
  
She'd become quite a good teacher's assistant, helping Professor Trelawney with her lessons and helping the students.  
  
Although Gwen got on with people, she still remained a little on the outside. She didn't feel included, mainly due to the fact she didn't have a house.  
  
The excitement of having a merlin in the school had subsided and people were treating her like everyone else which Gwen was glad of.  
  
She hated being the centre of attention, she much preferred to blend into the background.  
  
Today, just before lunch, Trelawney had asked her to gather some books for her from the library and Gwen had agreed but was now very much regretting the decision.  
  
Professor Trelawney had picked some of the larger books and Gwen had already made two trips before this.  
  
She was glad that this was her last one because her arms were aching from carrying the books and she was starving.  
  
"Ron!" She heard a voice from behind her shout.  
  
Gwen tried to turn around but miscalculated her footing and tripped, the books falling everywhere.  
  
As she bent to pick them up, she noticed Ron, Hermione and Harry in front of her.  
  
Hermione was obviously lecturing Ron about something.  
  
They eventually saw her, looking at them and walked over.  
  
She hadn't talked to Ron or Harry since the night they'd caught her flying.  
  
Even though, she'd seen them in class, they always seemed more preoccupied with other things and Gwen hadn't wanted to interrupt them.  
  
Hermione on the other hand, she'd seen and spoken to a lot, mainly because they were always in the library together.  
  
"Let us help you," Hermione offered.  
  
All three of them then started to collect the rest of the books.  
  
"I hope none of the books are damaged," Hermione said, picking up a book at looking at its spine.  
  
Harry and Ron both shook their heads, placing some books into Gwen's arms.  
  
"Why you carrying all these books? They're not for studying are they?" Ron said, his eyes scanning the book titles, "Guide to The Future," "How to Make a Good cup Of Tea for Your Future."  
  
"No. These are for Professor Trelawney," Gwen said.  
  
"Professor Trelawney needs to study?" Ron said, puzzled.  
  
Harry, Hermione and Gwen all looked at each other and then carried on talking, ignoring Ron's bewildered expression.  
  
"But they're so heavy," Gwen continued.  
  
"Why don't you use a levitation spell?" Hermione added, placing another book into Gwen's hands.  
  
"I would except."  
  
"You don't know how? Oh, don't worry. I'll show you," Hermione said quickly, drawing her wand out.  
  
"Anything to show off," Ron muttered under his breath to Harry.  
  
"No, I do," Gwen said, "well, I think I do. It's just that I.," she looked at the floor, "I don't have a wand."  
  
"You don't have a wand!" They all said together, their faces full of astonishment.  
  
Gwen nodded, her face burning.  
  
"Oh," Hermione said, trying to cover up her surprise.  
  
"Hey, we'll help you," she added, taking some books.  
  
The other two nodded, taking some books off Gwen.  
  
She didn't think anything could be worse than this but then another voice shouted, "The merlin doesn't have a wand!"  
  
It was Draco Malfoy, a blonde, pale-faced boy.  
  
He was constantly trying to get her to do his divination homework for him, by pretending not to get it. But she saw through his little charade.  
  
The boy was with his two bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle, two blockheads, who wouldn't know the future if it, smacked them stupid.  
  
Draco walked forward followed by Crabbe and Goyle; they stopped just in front of the foursome.  
  
"I can't believe it. A powerful merlin doesn't even have a wand," Draco cackled as he spoke, "I can't wait to tell father and.everyone else," he laughed again.  
  
This time Crabbe and Goyle grunted too.  
  
"Malfoy why don't you.," Harry said angrily, stepping forward.  
  
"Oohh, protecting the merlin are we, Potter? How pathetic," Draco hissed.  
  
Harry took another step forward but Gwen stepped in front of him.  
  
"It's ok, Harry. I can handle this," she said, then turning to Draco and looking him square in the face said, "do you know what merlins are famous for?"  
  
"I don't know, not having wands?" Draco said smugly, impressed by his own cleverness.  
  
"No," Gwen said, rolling her eyes, "their predictions and do you know what I predict for you?"  
  
"What?" Draco said, turning and smirking at Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"I predict that you will have a great downfall," Gwen said, her eyes focused on Malfoy's face.  
  
"Oh, I'm so scared," Draco said sarcastically.  
  
"You should be, it's going to hurt," Gwen said calmly.  
  
"Whatever, like I'm going to take advice from a merlin who can't even do proper magic. Come on," he said, gesturing to Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
Malfoy then turned around and started to walk away.  
  
"What was that about?" Ron said, coming up next to Gwen.  
  
"Wait," Gwen said, holding a hand up.  
  
As she did, they heard a large thump and turned to see Malfoy sprawled on the floor, with Crabbe and Goyle frantically trying to pick him up.  
  
The foursome then burst into uncontrollable laughter.  
  
"Hurt did it, Malfoy?" Harry called down to the figure who was now fixing his robe.  
  
He shot them all a fierce look and walked off.  
  
"How did you do that?" Ron said, through his chuckles.  
  
"Predict he was going to fall?" Gwen said.  
  
But before she answered, Hermione butt in, "well she's a merlin, isn't she?"  
  
"Actually, it doesn't have anything to do with being a merlin," Gwen said, calming down.  
  
"Then how." Harry said, his laughter stopping completely.  
  
"I saw Filch mopping up there just before," Gwen said.  
  
"Oh, but how did.," Harry started.  
  
"Come on; let's get these books up to Professor Trelawney before she starts to predict death omens for me," Gwen cut in, walking away.  
  
Ron and Hermione shrugged and then the three of them walked off, trying to catch up with Gwen.  
  
***  
  
Gwen watched Malfoy eat his breakfast and replayed the image of him, lying on the floor in a mess.  
  
She laughed silently, then she noticed that Malfoy was staring at her.  
  
She turned her head away but caught him whispering something to Crabbe and Goyle, then laugh, directing it at her.  
  
Gwen felt slightly nervous, she'd seen what Malfoy was capable of, through the torture that he put Neville Longbottom through and she was completely defenceless without a wand.  
  
But as long as she immersed herself in the crowd, then Malfoy wouldn't do anything, would he?  
  
Gwen then realised that she was actually thinking about being scared of Malfoy, she laughed.  
  
How could you be scared of pale faced Malfoy?  
  
But still, she didn't want a confrontation, not unless she was pushed.  
  
Gwen was completely lost in her thoughts when she realised that breakfast was over and people were leaving.  
  
She quickly grabbed her bag and made her way out of the great hall.  
  
There was bustle of people, trying to get to class and Gwen was glad, that she could blend into the crowd of people.  
  
"Oi, merlin!" Malfoy yelled.  
  
The way he said merlin, it sounded like an insult.  
  
Gwen kept walking, she really didn't want to have to deal with Malfoy right now.  
  
"I'm talking to you!" Malfoy screamed and Gwen felt a pair of cold hands pull her roughly around.  
  
She looked at Malfoy with that smarmy look on his face and it made her stomach crunch up. She also noticed that the pair of them were building up an audience.  
  
"Can I help you?" Gwen said, trying to remain calm.  
  
Malfoy's eyes glinted when he spoke, "yes, I need to ask you something."  
  
Gwen watched him closely, especially where his hands were.  
  
"I need to know something.," his voice sounded so smooth, he leaned towards her, "I need to know why you wear that ridiculous hat." Then without any warning, his hand shot out and tried to grab it.  
  
"Get off!" Gwen shouted and pushed Malfoy away.  
  
He stumbled backwards, not expecting her to fight back.  
  
Gwen stared at him and decided to quit while she was ahead but as she turned to leave, she tripped and fell onto the floor.  
  
Afterwards, she realised she'd been tripped by Crabbe.  
  
Goyle and him had been lurking around, watching from a distance and since it now seemed that poor Malfoy couldn't handle her by himself, they'd stepped in.  
  
"What, going already?" Malfoy said, laughing.  
  
He towered over her and Gwen could see, she wasn't escaping this, without being humiliated first.  
  
"Yes, I've got lessons, don't you?" Gwen answered, she got up and tried to walk away but Crabbe and Goyle blocked her exit.  
  
"Now, now, let's just see what we have here," Malfoy said and reached for her hat again.  
  
Gwen swatted his hand out of the way, "I already told you, to get off."  
  
Malfoy's eyes narrowed and he grabbed her wrist tightly, "who do you think you're talking to?"  
  
Gwen felt something poke her in the chest and looked down to find Malfoy's wand pointed at her.  
  
"Hey!" A voice called out.  
  
Gwen turned to see the Weasley twins coming up towards them.  
  
Malfoy instantly dropped her wrist but his wand remained out.  
  
"Are you ok?" Fred asked, or Gwen thought it was Fred.  
  
"I'm fine," Gwen replied, rubbing her wrist.  
  
Malfoy stared at the three of them and then made a quick movement with his eyes.  
  
Crabbe and Goyle then rested their hands on Fred and George's shoulders.  
  
They weren't as tall as the Weasley twins but made up for it, in their stocky build.  
  
They grunted at the two Gryffindors who took it as a challenge for a fight.  
  
Although it wasn't exactly a fight, it was more like hostile circling but everyone seemed to be fully engrossed in it.  
  
Gwen watched the four of them, each taunting each other to make a move.  
  
Then she felt something fall onto her neck and realised it was her hair. She turned and saw Malfoy, his eyes wide open and her hat in his hands.  
  
"You've.got.you've got." Malfoy said, but he couldn't say anymore because he then erupted into laughter which caused everyone else to look at Gwen.  
  
She saw their eyes focus onto her hair and smiles forming on their faces but the only real person that was laughing was Malfoy.  
  
For the first couple of seconds, Gwen blushed furiously, trying to hide her hair but then an anger started to boil inside of her and she turned on Malfoy.  
  
"Give me my hat back," Gwen asked, clenching her teeth.  
  
Malfoy stopped laughing and wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, "no, I don't think so."  
  
Gwen moved towards the Slytherin and lowered her glasses slowly; her red eyes flashed at Malfoy, "I said, give it here."  
  
Fear washed over Draco's face for a second.  
  
Gwen did look quite terrifying with her blood eyes and acid green hair.  
  
He handed the hat back to her and she shoved it onto her head and pushed her glasses back on.  
  
Then with all the dignity she could muster, Gwen walked off back to her room and fell onto her bed, screaming into her pillow.  
  
***  
  
As Gwen walked to the pitch, she felt really awful.  
  
After what had happened the other day, being embarrassed in front of half school hadn't been good.  
  
She'd just gotten out of the spot light for being a merlin but now she was a merlin with green hair and red eyes.  
  
At least I can disappear into the crowd today, Gwen thought, pulling her hat over her face.  
  
"Gwen!" Hermione called.  
  
Gwen turned and saw the Gryffindor come up alongside her.  
  
"Why don't you come and sit with me?" Hermione said, smiling.  
  
"I. don't think I'll be allowed." Gwen answered.  
  
She didn't really want to be near any houses.  
  
Hermione eyed her for a minute before saying, "this isn't about the other day, is it? I've been through worse and survived. Trust me."  
  
Gwen didn't want to look scared to one of the few remaining people that wasn't looking at her funny, so she nodded her head and followed Hermione.  
  
As they appeared in the Gryffindor area, Lavender Brown started to stare unsubtly at Gwen's hat.  
  
She was then elbowed in the ribs quickly by Parvati Patil and looked away quickly.  
  
Gwen gazed down over the pitch and there was a roar from the crowd, as the teams entered the arena.  
  
Gwen instantly saw Harry, in his red robes, flying agilely around the pitch.  
  
He was great on a broom.  
  
Then she caught sight of Ron and saw him proudly soar around.  
  
The last game he'd only let in 1 goal from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor had won with an amazing catch from Harry.  
  
"Why hasn't the game started?" Lavender said impatiently, holding her Gryffindor flag tightly.  
  
"Apparently Bole and Derrik haven't turned up yet," Seamus said, anxiously looking around the stadium.  
  
Then they saw the two large Slytherin beaters appear and take their positions.  
  
"Ok and we're off," Lee Jordan cried, he was commentating again.  
  
"Oh and Gryffindor has possession, Katie Bell throws to Alicia Spinnet and back again and it's a goal! Yeah, Gryffindor!"  
  
There was an eruption from the Gryffindors, as the first goal was scored.  
  
"And here we go.Angela Johnson and oh, stolen by Blaise Zabini. He's flying towards the goalposts.oohh, a bludger just missed him. He's face to face with Ron, the new keeper for Gryffindor and.it's saved! A nice save from the keeper!"  
  
Ron beamed proudly at the audience, aiming a lot of smug pride towards the Slytherins.  
  
"And.it's Blaise Zabini again and he's coming up to the goalposts, come on Ron, save it.but nooo.it's a goal for Slytherin."  
  
The Slytherin team member laughed and punched the air, making a massive show of himself. The Slytherins in the stands, roared with applause and cheering.  
  
The Gryffindors looked a little crestfallen, most of all Ron. His face was turning red with either anger or embarrassment, Gwen couldn't tell which.  
  
"Wait.," Lee Jordan screamed, "I think.Harry Potter has spotted the snitch."  
  
Everyone's attention then turned to watch the Gryffindor seeker who was quickly joined by Draco, the Slytherin seeker.  
  
Then from out of a corner, she saw Ron and the two Slytherin beaters.  
  
Ron had flown forward to look at the action going on between the two seekers but that was mistake because now, the two beaters were coming up behind him, their bats in their hands.  
  
"Look out, Ron!" Gwen cried out, and everyone's attention was diverted to the scene at the Gryffindor's goalposts.  
  
But it was too late, as Ron turned; the two beaters brought their two bats down and smacked him violently across the head.  
  
Ron then knocked out, fell off his broom and started to hurtle to the ground.  
  
Madam Hooch blew her whistle viciously, so that the shrill noise filled the pitch. She beckoned both teams to the ground.  
  
The Gryffindors were in an uproar, screaming at the Slytherins that they were cheaters. The Slytherins simply smirked quietly to themselves.  
  
"You.," Fred shouted at Bole and Derrik.  
  
"What?" they both said, innocently.  
  
"Enough," Madam Hooch shouted, the two teams stood silent.  
  
"I have never seen such behaviour. That was a deliberate attack on the keeper which was totally uncalled for."  
  
"I don't think it makes much difference," Blaise Zabini muttered.  
  
The Gryffindor team were ready to attack but were stopped by a hand by Madam Hooch.  
  
Harry glared at Malfoy who simply shrugged.  
  
Due to the distraction, Harry had missed the snitch and Malfoy had taken this opportunity to kick Harry, sending him off, spinning.  
  
"Now, since the keeper is unfit to play."  
  
They all stared at Ron who was being carried off on a stretcher by Madam Pomfrey.  
  
"And the unbelievable behaviour by the two Slytherin beaters, I'm allowing Gryffindor a penalty and to replace their keeper, if they have somebody suitable."  
  
Harry looked at the two Slytherin beaters and saw they were both smiling at this news.  
  
"Can we have a minute?" George asked.  
  
"Yes, quickly. Then I want to know who your new keeper is," Hooch replied.  
  
The Gryffindors huddled together, "who are we going to get?" Katie Bell said.  
  
"I can't think of anyone. I mean, Ron was the best there was," Angela Johnson added.  
  
"Do we really need one?" Alison remarked.  
  
"Yeah, the way the Slytherin are playing. We definitely need one," Katie answered.  
  
"How about Gwen?" Harry asked, looking around at his team mates.  
  
"The merlin?" George said, "is she any good?"  
  
"She's good," Harry replied confidently, remembering the night he'd seen her fly, "and we don't have any other choice."  
  
"Ok then. I'll take your word for it," George said, turning to Madam Hooch,  
  
"We would like Gwen Aldan to be our new keeper."  
  
"The merlin? You can't have her," Blaise cried out.  
  
"Scared?" Fred said, spinning his bat in his hand.  
  
"She's nothing to worry about," Malfoy added, winking at his team mate.  
  
"Fine. Have her, won't do you any good," Zabini spat.  
  
"I'm not sure," Madam Hooch said, leaning on her broomstick.  
  
"But you said, we could have anyone suitable and she is," Fred said, standing in front of Hooch.  
  
"Ok, someone go get her then," Hooch finally said, shaking her head.  
  
***  
  
A minute later, Gwen was walking onto the pitch; she couldn't believe she was going to play.  
  
"Here you are," Hooch said, handing her a Gryffindor robe and a broom. "You understand all the rules?"  
  
Gwen nodded; she wasn't sure why they'd picked her. She wasn't even in their house.  
  
"Wait!" A voice shouted and Professor McGonagall came into sight. "A word, please," she beckoned Gwen to the sidelines.  
  
"I don't think I should you let play," McGonagall said.  
  
"Is there anyone else that can play?" Gwen asked, although she knew there wasn't.  
  
"No," McGonagall replied. She seemed to be thinking it over.  
  
"Well, we don't really have a choice then."  
  
"Oh.very well," McGonagall said.  
  
Gwen knew McGonagall wanted Gryffindor to win as badly as everyone else did.  
  
"Give them hell," McGonagall said and walked off.  
  
Gwen slightly shocked at the remark, stood frozen to the spot.  
  
"Hey, Aldan, get up here!" Fred yelled.  
  
Gwen pulled on her robe and kicked off on her broom into the pitch.  
  
"And it seems that Gwen Aldan has replaced Ron Weasley. The game starts again and let's hope Bole and Derrik aren't going to cheat this time," Lee shouted, staring at the two beaters.  
  
He then carried on with his commentary, "ok, it's Bell with possession of the quaffle and.she's coming up to the posts, nice duck from Montague and coming up to Bletchley.and goal for Gryffindor! So, it's tied, 20-20. Now, Slytherin has it and Warrington is speeding towards the Gryffindor end. Oohh, a bludger just missed him but now he's coming up to the goal posts."  
  
Gwen could see Warrington coming up to her and she was ready.  
  
Now, which post was he going to go for, she saw him swerving from side to side, left, she thought instantly.  
  
She flew over and reached out, feeling the quaffle in her hands, she'd saved it.  
  
"Gwen!" She looked up and Angela was there, hovering above the posts.  
  
She threw it hard up to the chaser then a quick smile before she saw the girl dash down to the other end.  
  
Harry was circling the pitch, searching frantically for the snitch, he wanted the game to end, he didn't trust the Slytherin beaters.  
  
He had a feeling that they might launch another attack on the keeper.  
  
Then as he soared around, he caught sight of Malfoy opposite him, also searching for the snitch.  
  
The two seekers stared at each other, hardly blinking even when the bludgers flew perilously close to their heads.  
  
Then, they saw the snitch hovering right in the middle of them. Harry and Malfoy both threw their weights forward and sped towards their prize.  
  
It was different from when they'd last gone head to head, so many times before, because now, they both had firebolts. Draco had begged his father for one, so he could compete with Harry but in spite of this, Harry knew he could beat Draco.  
  
They were both edging closer and the snitch was just in reach when a bludger hurtled itself towards the players and threw them off balance.  
  
Both seekers spun for a second before they got their control again then the snitch was there, just in front of both of them.  
  
Harry reached for it and grabbed, he felt the snitch in his hand but he also felt Malfoy's hand, trying to prise it out of his.  
  
Then with an almighty push, he lurched himself backwards, taking the snitch with him. He sped off triumphantly but as he did, he caught sight of Gwen's unconscious body falling to the ground.  
  
***  
  
Gwen watched the fast-paced game, watching the Slytherin chasers carefully. She now had some confidence, now that she'd saved one.  
  
Then she saw them, the two Slytherin beaters coming up to her, she looked over at the crowd and Madam Hooch, they were completely distracted by what was going on at the other end.  
  
Bole and Derrik were now right in front of her.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked, they were eerily calm and collected.  
  
"Nothing much," Bole said.  
  
"Just wanted to give you a message from someone," Derrik finished.  
  
"Who?" Gwen asked, not liking the looks they were giving her.  
  
"Oh, you-know-who."  
  
Gwen froze; they couldn't be talking about the dark lord.  
  
"Is this a joke?" Gwen asked, though she was certain it wasn't.  
  
"Hmm. strange," Bole said, leaning on his hand.  
  
"That's exactly what Bole and Derrik said, before we.," Derrik didn't finish his sentence.  
  
Gwen wondered who these people were if they weren't Bole and Derrik, they certainly looked like them.  
  
Then the fake Bole spoke again, "now about the message. Voldermort." Gwen shuddered at the name, "would just like to say, he's looking forward to meeting you and that he's planning something very special for your birthday."  
  
"Now, we must be going," the fake Derrik said.  
  
The two then turned away and were about to fly off when Bole turned around, "oh yeah, almost forgot, a welcoming present from our dark lord."  
  
He then drew out his wand, pointed it at Gwen and a long blue streak came out and hit Gwen in the chest.  
  
They then laughed and flew off. Madam Hooch started to yell at them but they ignored her then everyone looked at Gwen.  
  
She was wobbling from side to side, her head on her chest.  
  
Gwen felt cold, she couldn't feel her body anymore, all she felt was cold, ice cold, then black.  
  
Everyone gasped, watching her motionless body fall off the broom and start to descend towards the ground.  
  
*This is going to be my last chapter before Xmas. So, Happy Christmas to everyone! Also, any ideas about to happen next are greatly appreciated. Thanks* 


	9. Shape Shifters

Chapter Nine  
  
Gwen opened her eyes and looked around; she was in the hospital wing. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Madam Pomfrey walking around making the beds.  
  
Gwen grunted and tried to sit up; Madam Pomfrey instantly came to her side.  
  
"How do you feel?" she said, putting a hand on Gwen's forehead.  
  
"I feel fine," Gwen replied, pushing her hand away.  
  
Gwen was fine but felt that something was wrong. She rubbed her eyes and finally realised what was different, she didn't have her glasses or her hat on.  
  
"My glasses and my hat!" Gwen yelled.  
  
"Oh, well your hat's here but your glasses."  
  
But before she could finish, Gwen had grabbed the hat from the side table and shoved it on her head.  
  
"What is the matter?" Madam Pomfrey asked, looking at the frantic girl trying to shove her hair into the hat.  
  
"My hair it's green and my eyes." Gwen shut her eyes, "has anyone else seen me like this?"  
  
"What are you talking about? Your hair is not green. Did you hit your head that hard?" Pomfrey said, staring closely at the girl.  
  
"My hair isn't green," she pulled out some hair from the hat, opening her eyes and focusing her attention on it; it was dark brown.  
  
"And my eyes aren't red?" Gwen said, widening them and looking at Pomfrey.  
  
"No," she replied curtly.  
  
As Gwen lay back against the bed, memories started to flood back to her and she sprang back up again.  
  
"Bole, Derrik, they're not.Bole and Derrik, they're someone else. I need to talk to Dumbledore," she started to get out of bed.  
  
"Now, sshh." Madam Pomfrey said, pushing Gwen back into bed.  
  
"We know. After the match, we went looking for Bole and Derrik and they were found in the Slytherin changing rooms, bound up. Here," she handed Gwen, a large bottle full of a deep red liquid.  
  
Gwen took it and swallowed it in one gulp. She quickly regretted doing that; the mixture burned her throat as it went down.  
  
"What was that?" Gwen asked, handing back the bottle.  
  
"Dragon's breath," Pomfrey replied automatically.  
  
"Aaah, it burns," Gwen said, stroking her throat.  
  
"Good. It's supposed to."  
  
Gwen shook off the slight pain and continued with her questioning.  
  
"So, are the real Bole and Derrik ok? Did they know, who.what.,"  
  
"They're fine and no, they don't know."  
  
Gwen leant back again but the words that fake Bole and fake Derrik had said to her, shot back into her head.  
  
"But I still need to talk to Dumbledore, it's about Voldermort."  
  
Madam Pomfrey winced at the mention of the name.  
  
"No, you need your.,"  
  
"Please, this is important," Gwen begged the woman.  
  
Madam Pomfrey looked down at the girl and shrugged, "better get some clothes on then."  
  
***  
  
"How long has she been in there for?" Fred asked.  
  
"A week," Harry replied.  
  
"It must be really bad," George replied, shoving some cereal in his mouth.  
  
"Well at least Ron, Bole and Derrik are ok," Hermione said, trying to sound cheerful.  
  
She was answered with resounding grunts from the other Gryffindors.  
  
Ron had woken up the next day after the match with a slight headache but nothing too serious.  
  
He was soon strong enough to fly again and could be seen on the quidditch pitch in the late evenings practicing.  
  
And it had been commented on that he was becoming more and more like Oliver Wood everyday.  
  
Although the difference was that Oliver had been driven by ambition while Ron was seething with hate and revenge, focusing it all on the Slytherin Team.  
  
It was a lethal combination.  
  
Bole and Derrik had recovered quickly, they'd just been stunned, no harm done or at least no physical harm.  
  
It was said by gossiping students (Lavender and Pavarti) that Bole and Derrick were now petrified of their own reflections ever since the attack and that all mirrors from their dorms had been removed.  
  
Although it was said by some other people (Fred and George) that with faces like Bole and Derrick you'd be scared anyway, attack or no attack.  
  
"She'll be alright," Ron said, trying to break the awkward silence.  
  
"Yeah.but we should have been watching," Fred said, nodding sadly, "after what happened to you, we should have known that those two weren't."  
  
"Let's not talk about them anymore," Hermione said, she shook slightly when she spoke.  
  
"So, who do you think the fake Bole and Derrik were?" Ron asked, looking around the table.  
  
Everyone stopped; that had been the question on everyone's lips but nobody had been brave enough to ask Dumbledore or any of the other teachers.  
  
Although everyone was sure that even they didn't know.  
  
Bole and Derrik had only seen Bole and Derrick and so they were no help at all.  
  
And the only other person that would know was lying in the hospital wing.  
  
"Whoever they were, the dark arts were involved," Harry said quietly.  
  
Everyone nodded; they didn't know what else to say.  
  
"Hey." Hermione said, pointing to the door.  
  
There stood a dark haired girl, who was now making her way up to the top table.  
  
Harry noticed that she was limping slightly on her left foot.  
  
Everyone watched her walk up but the girl seemed unaware of the attention.  
  
Dumbledore stood up and smiled at the girl, "glad to see you're feeling better, Gwen."  
  
Gwen smiled gently and said in a loud voice, "I need to speak to you, in private."  
  
Dumbledore nodded and walked down to where Gwen was standing, and led her out of the great hall.  
  
"That was Gwen," Ron said, his mouth slightly open, "she looks different."  
  
"Well, she has taken off her glasses and removed her hat," Hermione said, obviously not impressed by Ron's goldfish expression.  
  
"And she's got brown hair," Harry added, everyone looked at him and weren't sure what to make of that comment.  
  
***  
  
"Now, what is it you want to tell me?" Dumbledore said, sitting in his chair.  
  
"That wasn't Bole and Derrik on the pitch," Gwen said quickly, collapsing into a chair nearby.  
  
"I know," Dumbledore said, nodding his head gently.  
  
"Who were they?"  
  
"I'm not sure, but they may have been Morfal and Lafrom. Shape shifters," Dumbledore picked up a piece of parchment and stared at it, before placing it back down.  
  
"But.shape shifters are extinct. There haven't been any for hundreds of years. Wizards wiped them out in the 11th century."  
  
"That is true. But these two aren't true shape shifters. They were man made shape shifters, they were once wizards."  
  
"But wizards can't be."  
  
"They can, Gwen. The first shape shifters were believed to have been wizards and witches before they turned. These two in particular are the last of their kind. We now have very strict rules on shape shifters. It seems that people cannot control their desires to use this dark art for evil. So the ministry banned it."  
  
"But if it was banned, how did they do it?" Gwen said, her voice wobbling slightly.  
  
"Just because something is banned, doesn't mean that people will stop doing it,"  
  
Dumbledore's gaze seem to drift for a while before he snapped back into life, "these two are twins; I remember them when they were here at the school, very talented wizards. But they had an obsession with the dark arts. One day, they must have been experimenting with some dark magic and gotten overwhelmed by it because there was an accident and the twins disappeared. We believed that they were dead. But a couple of weeks later, strange things started to happen. People started to appear in two places at once, have complete changes of character, do things that when later asked, they had no recollection of. Finally, someone caught one of them in the act of morphing and so, there was a search for them. They were caught six months later and were about to have their magic taken from then, when."  
  
"Wait, what do you mean, their magic taken from then?" Gwen asked, she leaned in closer.  
  
"Well, in extreme cases, wizards and witches can have their magic taken away from them, they become muggles. It's one of the harshest punishments that a wizard or witch can suffer, the only thing worse would be the Dementor's Kiss. We hardly ever do it, normally they're sent to Azkaban and that's the end of it. It's such a painful and time consuming process, for all that are involved. But in the case of the twins, we couldn't allow this dark magic in our world; it might bring the art back into use. No, it was too dangerous. So, anyway, just before their sentence was about to be performed, they somehow managed to escape. They then vanished and have never surfaced again, until last week."  
  
After he finished speaking, Dumbledore put his hands together and sat silently, waiting for Gwen to speak.  
  
"What did they do to me?" Gwen finally said, she suddenly felt exhausted.  
  
"They froze you," Dumbledore said, a little distracted, something had caught his eye out of the window.  
  
"Hmm." Gwen said, that explains the feeling of cold when she was hit and the dragon's breath she thought to herself.  
  
"Nice present," Gwen muttered.  
  
"What?" Dumbledore said, looking at Gwen intently.  
  
"Well.Morfal and Lafrom said that Voldermort wanted to meet me and that he had a birthday surprise for me. Then they froze me and said that it was a present."  
  
Dumbledore stared even harder at the girl, Gwen felt like the dragon's breath was in her cheeks.  
  
"Well, this seems to be serious. I will have to inform the rest of the order," he nodded to himself and started to pace around the room.  
  
"What could Voldermort want with shape shifters?"  
  
Gwen didn't know whether this question was directed at her or not, so she shrugged her shoulders. But Dumbledore didn't seem to notice and he said something quietly under his breath, before sitting back down and looking at Gwen.  
  
"I think it's best if you go back to hospital wing and rest."  
  
Gwen stood up and was about to go, when Dumbledore added, "Gwen, please be careful around Hogwarts. Don't get into any trouble."  
  
Gwen smiled and left.  
  
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and stared out the window, "though I'm not sure, you can help it," he muttered under his breath. 


	10. Confrontation

Chapter Ten  
  
Harry was writing furiously, his quill scratching on the parchment; he had an essay due for Professor McGonagall the next day.  
  
He looked over at his soft bed and wrote faster; his hand was cramping up but he didn't care.  
  
He couldn't stand it, if McGonagall took points off Gryffindor for not having done the homework. He continued to write, gripping the quill tighter, making his knuckles turn white. As he came near to finishing, he heard it, a soft coo.  
  
He turned and saw Hedwig perched on the window still, a letter was hanging from her beak.  
  
He looked at his essay and scanned it over quickly; he then added something, rolled it up and shoved into his bag.  
  
"Now.," he turned to face Hedwig and removed the letter carefully from her beak. He opened it and read quickly:  
  
"Dear Harry,  
  
Just checking up on you, hope everything is fine. Can you meet me behind Hagrid's hut at midnight on Friday? Send a reply asap.  
  
Sirius.  
  
p.s Bring some food."  
  
After reading the letter, he quickly screwed it up and shoved into his robes, to be burnt the next day. He then scribbled down a quick reply and handed it to Hedwig.  
  
She flew off, her wings hardly making any noise.  
  
He then lay back on his bed and wondered whether he should tell Ron and Hermione, he hadn't seen Sirius for a while.  
  
He turned and looked at the snoring red head and decided that he'd prefer to see his godfather alone; they'd understand.  
  
***  
  
Gwen opened and closed her eyes, before sighing heavily and turning onto her back; she couldn't get to sleep.  
  
Gwen looked up at the ceiling and wanted to scream, she'd been stuck in the hospital wing for nearly two weeks and she was bored.  
  
Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let her out, until her temperature had returned to normal, at present it was only a few degrees below normal and so Pomfrey had confined her to another day in bed.  
  
She was itching to go to Hogsmeade and buy her Christmas presents for Maggie, Nancy and Alfred.  
  
Christmas was only 3 weeks away and that didn't leave a lot of time. She also wondered, whether she should get presents for Dumbledore and Professor Trelawney.  
  
Her head was spinning and she fell asleep, with galleons floating around in her head.  
  
"Gwen!" Madam Pomfrey shouted, drawing back the covers.  
  
"Huh?" Gwen mumbled sleepily.  
  
"Get up. Your temperature's back to normal. You can go. Now, up," Pomfrey said, pushing the girl out of bed.  
  
Gwen at the mention of being able to leave, leapt up and got dressed.  
  
She waved at Pomfrey, who merely nodded and began to make up the empty bed. Gwen hummed to herself, walking back to her room, to get a change of clothes and also, to have a shower.  
  
She was starting to smell slightly.  
  
***  
  
"Hermione, can you please get your book off the table," Ron shouted, pushing the book with his elbow.  
  
Hermione looked up from her book, "I can but I won't." She turned the page and began to read again.  
  
Ron grunted and miserably shoved some toast into his mouth. Harry stared at them and wondered whether they'd ever stop arguing.  
  
"Hi," Gwen said cautiously, stopping at the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Gwen.how do you feel?" Harry asked, looking up at the girl.  
  
"Oh, I'm fine. How are you, Ron? Can you still play?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah, unfortunately," George added, joining the conversation.  
  
"Hey!" Ron said jokingly, throwing a roll at his older brother.  
  
"So, are you staying here for Christmas?" Hermione said, popping her head out of the book.  
  
"Probably. Don't have anywhere else to go," Gwen replied.  
  
"What about your three guardians?" Ron asked, taking the opportunity to slam Hermione's book closed.  
  
"Oh, they're getting the last of the order.," Gwen stopped; she'd almost said something about the Order of the Phoenix.  
  
"Yes.," Hermione said sweetly, before viciously punching Ron on the arm.  
  
Ron squealed and shot Hermione a vicious stare.  
  
"Umm.they're busy. Any of you staying?" Gwen said quickly, trying to change the subject.  
  
"Yup. Harry, her." Ron said, glaring at Hermione, "me and the rest of the Weasley family."  
  
"Good. I won't be alone," she smiled at everyone, "well I'd better get some breakfast," with that she walked up to the top table.  
  
***  
  
Gwen woke up, sweat on her forehead, she'd had another nightmare.  
  
This is getting ridiculous, Gwen thought to herself. She put her black robes on and placed her flute in the pocket.  
  
Lately, she'd been sleeping with the thing, it made her feel better; it was like having her mother with her.  
  
Gwen walked out of her room and started to wander around the corridors, trying to get the dream out of her head.  
  
As she did, she looked out the window and caught a glimpse of something.  
  
Someone was creeping around near Hagrid's hut.  
  
She looked closer and saw a huge black dog, sitting behind the hut waiting. Then a person appeared and she recognised it as Harry.  
  
She wondered what he was doing.  
  
As she watched, she saw him disappear into the Forbidden Forest with the black dog.  
  
Gwen couldn't control her curiosity and hurried down, to follow them.  
  
***  
  
Harry pulled off his invisibility cloak and followed Sirius into the forest. They slipped quietly into a nearby clearing and stood looking at each other, while Sirius transformed into his human form.  
  
Sirius looked a little better than the last time, Harry had seen him. He thought back to last year and remembered Voldermort's face in his; he was so, close to death.  
  
"Is that for me?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence.  
  
"Yeah," Harry answered, handing him the bag, full of food.  
  
Sirius hungrily reached into the bag and pulled out a ham sandwich, which he shoved into his mouth greedily.  
  
Harry smiled at the sight of his godfather and he then realised he didn't have a lot of time left.  
  
"So, was there something that you wanted?" Harry asked, sitting on a nearby tree root. He placed his lantern next to him.  
  
"Yes," Sirius replied, between mouthfuls of food, "I've found a place to live, somewhere to live for now."  
  
Harry smiled even more, he hoped this meant that he could live with Sirius and not the Dursleys. They were becoming more unbearable each year and seemed to be showing less and less concern and more and more contempt for him.  
  
"So, this summer.," Harry started, but Sirius had stopped eating and was looking at the floor. Harry took this as a no.  
  
Another Summer, with the Dursleys wouldn't hurt him, but Dudley might not be so lucky, Harry thought to himself.  
  
***  
  
Gwen stopped and hid behind a tree and watched the scene.  
  
She nearly screamed when the black dog transformed into Sirius Black and then when Harry had handed him some food, she'd almost fainted.  
  
What is wrong with the world?  
  
Why is everyone being nice to an escaped murderer? She thought.  
  
But she continued to watch the scene.  
  
***  
  
"Sirius, was there anything else that you wanted?" Harry asked, wiping something off his robe.  
  
Sirius looked up and carefully removed a letter from his pocket. "I want you to give this to Dumbledore for me."  
  
"What is it about?" Harry asked, reaching over to take the letter.  
  
"Order of Phoenix stuff."  
  
"SNAP!"  
  
Gwen glanced down and saw a broken twig.  
  
"What was that?" Sirius said, standing up straight.  
  
"It came from over there," Harry said, pointing to the tree that Gwen was behind.  
  
"Bugger," Gwen whispered.  
  
She searched around and finding a rock, threw it away from her. The rock landed with a thump and both Harry and Sirius went over to see what it was.  
  
As they walked off, Gwen saw that Sirius had dropped the letter, when he'd transformed back into a dog. She took the opportunity and rushed out and grabbed the letter.  
  
"Gwen," Harry said, looking at the girl. Gwen hastily put the letter into her pocket.  
  
"What you.,"  
  
"Harry. it was.," Sirius cut in, but stopped when he saw Gwen.  
  
All three stood watching each other, Harry was in a panic. He could see from the look that Gwen was giving him, that she knew who Sirius was.  
  
"Gwen, maybe I should explain.umm.this is Sirius Black.," Harry stuttered, he didn't know where to start.  
  
"I know who this is," Gwen spat. Her eyes and face had darkened with hate.  
  
Sirius looked at the girl and something about her, looked familiar.  
  
Maybe it was the look of disgust on her face; he'd seen so many others wear.  
  
"Ok.well, Sirius is my.," Harry continued. "He's my godfather." He paused and waited for a reaction.  
  
"WHAT!" Gwen yelled, her voice echoed in the forest.  
  
"Maybe, I can explain.," Sirius said, stepping forward.  
  
"Stay out of this, death eater!" Gwen hissed.  
  
Sirius's face fell into a frown and he glared at the girl.  
  
Harry seeing his godfather's face, started to talk again, "Gwen, he's not what you think he is. He's one of us," Harry searched her face for some sign that she was believing him but was met with an icy look.  
  
"I can't believe it," Gwen said quietly, trying to take in all the information.  
  
"Well, it's true," Sirius replied, looking at the girl more intently.  
  
Gwen threw him a vicious look. "So when you broke out of prison, you decided to leave your master? He can't be too happy," Gwen sneered.  
  
"I was never in league with that.thing." Sirius snapped back.  
  
Harry could see the tension building between the two.  
  
"Whatever," Gwen said, shrugging off the comment, "just don't think about crawling back to him."  
  
"Look, why can't you just believe me?" Sirius said loudly, walking towards the girl.  
  
Harry followed quickly, not really knowing what to do.  
  
"Hmm. let's see, escaped from prison, meeting Harry in the forest, alone. Oh yeah and being accused of murdering all those muggles and also your best friend. Wonder why I don't trust you?" Gwen shouted, her face turning red from anger.  
  
"That was a mistake," Sirius said, moving towards the girl.  
  
"Don't come any closer," Gwen said.  
  
"Look, let me explain," Harry said, stepping between the two.  
  
"If I had a wand, I'd kill you on the spot," Gwen yelled, knowing that a death eater was in front of her made her blood boil.  
  
It was people like this, that had killed her mother and she would never forgive them.  
  
"Really?" Sirius scoffed, taking another step forward.  
  
Gwen started to back away, seeing the look in Sirius's eyes. But she failed to see the tree root behind her and fell over backwards.  
  
As she did, the flute that was in her pocket, flew out and started to roll towards Sirius. He bent down and picked it up, turning it over in his hands.  
  
Harry, meanwhile was helping Gwen to her feet.  
  
"You alright?" Harry asked, pulling Gwen off the ground.  
  
"I'm fine," she said huffily, pushing him away.  
  
"Hey, give that back!" Gwen shouted, seeing what Sirius was holding.  
  
"How did you get this?" Sirius said, his voice had turned into a hoarse whisper. But he was still clutching the flute tightly.  
  
"It was my mother's. Now, give it back," Gwen said forcefully, striding towards Sirius.  
  
"Your mother?" Sirius said, gazing down at the flute.  
  
"Yes. Maybe you've heard of her, Victoria Aldan?" Gwen said, snatching the flute from him. Her eyes were beginning to fill with tears, as she remembered the woman from her dreams.  
  
"Vicky was your mother?" Sirius repeated, staggering back. Obviously this news was a shock to him.  
  
Gwen walked forwards, turning her back on the pair and shoved the flute back into her robe.  
  
"We'd better get back. Coming, Harry?" Gwen said, walking away quickly, trying to hold back her tears.  
  
"Yeah," Harry replied, watching Gwen disappear between the trees, "I'll send you an owl soon," he said to his godfather, who seemed to be very distracted.  
  
"Sirius?" Harry said, nudging the man.  
  
"Yes, ok. I'd better be going," the man replied, as if waking from a dream.  
  
He then transformed back into a dog and bounded away.  
  
Harry stood for a minute before grabbing his cloak and rushing after Gwen.  
  
***  
  
"Gwen.," Harry hissed, from underneath his invisibility cloak.  
  
"What?" Gwen said, slightly annoyed.  
  
She turned around, but couldn't see anybody. Then from nowhere, a hand grabbed her.  
  
"What.where.," Gwen said, she studied what she had been pulled under.  
  
"Sssshhh!" Harry said, pointing to the figure that was coming. It was Filch.  
  
They ducked down another corridor, but could still hear Filch's footsteps.  
  
"Where's your room?" Harry whispered, looking out for Filch.  
  
"Umm. this way." Gwen said, a little embarrassed about how she'd acted before.  
  
They carried on walking in silence, both looking out for Filch.  
  
"This is me," Gwen said, when they reached her door.  
  
"Ok.," Harry whispered.  
  
"Look, about the thing with Sirius.," Gwen said, looking at the floor.  
  
"Meet me in the library at 8 tomorrow and I'll explain everything," Harry said quickly.  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Good," he said, running down a corridor.  
  
Gwen quickly walked back into her room and fell onto her bed, thinking about what had just happened. 


	11. Suspicions and Trust

Chapter Eleven  
  
"Gwen saw Sirius last night," Harry announced to Ron and Hermione.  
  
They were sitting in McGonagall's class, doing "quiet study".  
  
"What? How?" Ron said, his face full of shock.  
  
"Well.I met Sirius last night and Gwen followed. She wasn't happy to see him," Harry replied, closing his transfiguration book.  
  
"You never told me, you were meeting Sirius?" Ron said, looking slightly hurt.  
  
Harry was about to say something when Hermione cut in.  
  
"Is she going to tell. anyone?" she said, looking around the classroom, to check no one was listening.  
  
"I don't know. But I'm meeting her tonight, to explain everything," Harry continued, flicking another book open, trying to look like he was doing something.  
  
"What everything?" Ron said suddenly, staring intently at Harry.  
  
"Ok, maybe not everything. But enough," Harry replied, thinking about what he was going to say.  
  
"Good. She can't." Ron began, but McGonagall cast an eye on the threesome and they ducked into their books for the rest of the lesson.  
  
***  
  
Gwen walked quickly to the library, the letter in her pocket. She kept thinking about the past night's events and wondering whether she could have been wrong about Sirius. I mean, it was possible.  
  
Harry trusted him and Dumbledore seemed to have faith in him, so she should too.  
  
But Gwen didn't want to give in so easily, there was still something about that man, that made her feel uneasy.  
  
***  
  
Harry walked out of the porthole and continued to the library.  
  
He kept replaying in his mind, what he was going to say to Gwen; he was going to tell her enough to save Sirius from being exposed but nothing more.  
  
He hardly knew anything about Gwen, he couldn't take that risk with Sirius' life.  
  
Yes, she seemed trustworthy, but he'd learnt the hard way, it's not always easy to find people to trust nowadays.  
  
One example was "Mad Eye Moody" or , the wizard that had indirectly caused Cedric Diggory. No, he couldn't take that risk. Too many things were at stake, things which he couldn't and wouldn't lose.  
  
"Oommph," Harry collided into another person and their books flew all over the place. He looked up and saw Cho Chang, staring back at him.  
  
"I'm sorry," Harry said, his voice wavering.  
  
"It's ok," she replied, smiling at him.  
  
Harry felt his knees going weak.  
  
"So, is dinner over?" Cho asked, picking up another book.  
  
"Umm. just finished," Harry replied. No wonder he hadn't seen her in the hall, he thought to himself.  
  
"Shoot. I was writing up an essay for Professor Flitwick and completely lost track of time," she explained, shaking her head.  
  
Harry nodded stupidly; he didn't know what to say. He seemed entranced by the swaying of her dark hair.  
  
"Oh.I'm starving," she sighed, putting a hand on her stomach.  
  
"You are." Harry said, his voice squeaked slightly. He coughed to clear his throat before continuing. "I can take you to the kitchens if you want, so you can get something to eat."  
  
"Really? Oh, you're so sweet," Cho replied, beaming at him.  
  
Harry's cheeks reddened and he started to lead her down another corridor.  
  
"You weren't going to do something in the library, were you?" Cho asked, as they walked.  
  
Harry looked at Cho and felt his heart race, "no, nothing."  
  
***  
  
Gwen turned the corner and saw Harry; she was about to say something when she saw someone else with him.  
  
It was Cho Chang, a pretty seventh year in Ravenclaw. She had often helped Cho with her divination work in class, she seemed nice.  
  
As she watched them talk, she saw the redness in Harry's cheeks and the way he couldn't look her in the eyes and knew instantly, Harry had a crush on Cho.  
  
She wasn't sure whether or not to break up the pair but then they started to come her way. Gwen on instinct hid behind a wall and watched them walk past.  
  
"You weren't going to do something in the library, were you?" Cho asked, fluttering her eyelashes at Harry.  
  
Gwen rolled her eyes.  
  
But she saw Harry look at her, with those sickly puppy dog eyes and knew that he was gone.  
  
"No, nothing," Harry replied and they walked off round a corner.  
  
Gwen wanted to run up to Harry and remind him that he was doing something but she didn't, something held her back.  
  
"Fine.if you're going to make dates and then break them, fine. Just fine," she said, stomping off to her room.  
  
***  
  
"I never knew that house elves were so friendly and helpful," Cho said, finishing off her jam doughnut.  
  
"Well, it is their job," Harry replied. He had become more comfortable with Cho and could say full sentences without blushing now.  
  
Cho laughed gently.  
  
They stopped at a statue of a raven and a large painting of a castle which was placed beside it.  
  
Harry had never seen Ravenclaw's or Hufflepuff's entrances before.  
  
"Thank you, Harry," Cho said sweetly before reaching up and kissing him lightly on the cheek.  
  
Harry now had no control over his cheeks and they bloomed red.  
  
Cho laughed again.  
  
She then drew out her wand and tapped the raven statue three times.  
  
A figure then poked it's head out of the castle in the painting. It was a small old woman with beady eyes.  
  
"Password?" The old woman shrieked.  
  
"Inter Legere," Cho replied confidently.  
  
The picture swung open and Cho started to walk in, "thanks again. Bye," she said softly before disappearing behind the picture.  
  
"You better be on your way now," the old woman said sharply, before vanishing back into the castle.  
  
Harry grinned and walked back dreamily to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
***  
  
Ron and Hermione were sitting by the fire, waiting for Harry. They wanted to know what had happened with Gwen.  
  
"Gwen wouldn't tell anyone about Sirius, would she?" Ron asked nervously.  
  
"Course not. After Harry has explained to her the circumstances, she'll understand," Hermione said reassuringly.  
  
As they continued to talk, they saw Harry walk in. But he seemed different; his step seemed to have a bounce in it.  
  
"Harry," Ron said. But Harry didn't answer; he kept walking with a distant look in his eyes.  
  
"Harry!" Ron said louder.  
  
Harry heard him this time. He smiled sleepily at the bewildered pair and made his way over to them.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Hermione said, observing the difference in her friend.  
  
"Cho Chang kissed me," Harry replied, touching his cheek where Cho had placed her lips.  
  
"What!" Ron shouted loudly and he started to rattle off a million questions at his friend.  
  
Harry would mumble something now and then, which would set Ron off onto another batch of questions.  
  
Hermione observed the scene, slightly amused. Then remembered why she'd been waiting for Harry and cried out, "what about Gwen?"  
  
Both Harry and Ron stopped.  
  
The happy expression on Harry's face turned into one of shock and embarrassment.  
  
"I forgot to meet her. I was talking to Cho and." Harry replied, slamming a hand onto his forehead.  
  
"Do you think she'll be upset?" Ron asked cautiously.  
  
"Well, she isn't exactly going to be over the moon, is she?" Hermione retorted.  
  
"What you going to do?" Ron queried.  
  
"Apologise?" Harry offered.  
  
"That's a start," Hermione said, getting up, "anyway, I'm off to bed and so, should you two." She eyed them both but Harry was too distracted to notice.  
  
Hermione then walked up to her dorm room.  
  
Harry looked over at Ron, looking for help.  
  
Ron ruffled his red hair and breathed heavily before shrugging.  
  
Harry sighed and collapsed back into the chair.  
  
He was dreading tomorrow.  
  
***  
  
"So, has the merlin recovered from the quidditch match?" Voldermort snapped.  
  
"Yes," Wormtail said softly.  
  
"Good. I want her at full strength when I met her," Voldermort laughed, "is everything going to plan?"  
  
"Yes," Wormtail repeated. He rubbed his neck, where there was a massive bruise.  
  
"Not very talkative today, are we?" Voldermort said, placing an arm around Wormtail.  
  
He felt Wormtail shake from his touch.  
  
It made him smile, he enjoyed the fear he induced with his power.  
  
"I'm sorry, my lord," Wormtail croaked.  
  
"Doesn't matter really. I like you better this way."  
  
Wormtail smiled and tried to hide his fear.  
  
"Now, go and get the rest of the preparations together. Go on," Voldermort pushed Wormtail forwards.  
  
The servant quickly picked himself up and scurried away.  
  
***  
  
Gwen walked into the hall the next morning, trying to avoid the Gryffindor table.  
  
It wasn't because she was upset, it was just that she didn't want to face Harry, because he would apologise and she'd forgive him and Gwen wasn't quite ready to forgive him yet.  
  
She wanted him to suffer a little first; no one stood Gwen Aldan up. She had her pride.  
  
***  
  
Harry watched Gwen walk up to the top table, without even a glance his way. She was upset; he could tell.  
  
"Gwen doesn't look too happy," Ron whispered to Harry.  
  
Harry sighed and dug his spoon into his cereal.  
  
***  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the common room, as usual. Ron was talking about the Chudley Cannons, while Hermione was stressing about upcoming exams.  
  
Harry wasn't listening to either, he was thinking about the upcoming quidditch matches.  
  
At that moment, Gwen walked in. Harry looked up and smiled at her; she politely nodded back and walked over to Hermione.  
  
"Have you seen Seamus?" Gwen asked, turning her back to Harry.  
  
"Umm.he's up in our room," Ron replied.  
  
"Oh. Where's your room?" Gwen asked, trying hard to ignore the looks that Hermione and Ron were giving her.  
  
They were trying to get her to notice Harry.  
  
"I'll show you," Harry offered, standing up.  
  
"Fine," Gwen said, whirling around to face the entrance to the dorms.  
  
They then walked up the stairs to Harry's dorm room.  
  
As they opened the door, they could hear stifled cries and found Neville Longbottom being sat on by Seamus.  
  
Gwen had always felt sorry for Neville, he tried so hard at divination and still wasn't very good at it.  
  
Also, he'd once said she looked nice with her glasses and hat. It was a blatant lie but it had still brightened her day.  
  
"What you doing? Get off him," Gwen cried, pushing Seamus off the boy.  
  
"Why'd yer do that?" Seamus asked, "we were only having a little fun, weren't we Neville?"  
  
"Yeah.," Neville replied quietly, rubbing his back.  
  
"It shows," Harry said, sitting on the edge of his bed.  
  
"Anyway. what you two doing up here?" Seamus asked, leaning against a bed post.  
  
Then slow realisation appeared on his face and he winked at Harry. "I see.sorry, Harry. I'll leave. Come on, Neville," he eyed Gwen up, as he grabbed the boy and started for the door.  
  
Harry blushed at what Seamus was insinuating.  
  
"Actually, I wanted to see you, Seamus," Gwen announced, making it clear that she definitely didn't want to be alone with Harry.  
  
"Oh," Seamus said, a glint in his eye, "what can I do for you?" he smiled, trying to be charming.  
  
Gwen shook her head, boys, she thought.  
  
"You can give me your divination homework for a start. Remember, you said that you'd have it done by today."  
  
Seamus' face fell and he began rummaging through his bag.  
  
After a few minutes, he produced an ink stained piece of parchment and handed it to Gwen.  
  
She glanced over the piece of work and sighed. It was full of rubbish, absolute rubbish, all made up.  
  
Most probably an "A" in Professor Trelawney's books though.  
  
"Was there anything else?" Seamus said, smiling again.  
  
"Yeah, stop sitting on Neville," Gwen replied dryly and smiled at the poor boy before exiting the room.  
  
"Hey Gwen, wait up," Harry shouted, rushing after her, down the stairs.  
  
"What?" Gwen said sharply.  
  
Harry gulped, he didn't like the way her eyes were filling with anger.  
  
"Look, about yesterday.I. well.," just tell her the truth, a voice called out in Harry's head.  
  
"Yeah, I.had this big essay and couldn't get out of it and." Stupid, stupid, the voice yelled.  
  
"Really?" Gwen said, her voice had softened.  
  
Harry smiled, nodding his head quickly.  
  
"Was this before or after you met Cho Chang?"  
  
At that moment, Harry swore he saw Gwen's eyes flash red.  
  
"Oh. you know about that," Harry said sheepishly.  
  
"I saw you two," Gwen said, a little disappointed. She didn't think that Harry would lie about where he'd been last night.  
  
"Harry, you don't have to lie to me. I do understand and I probably would have done the same thing, if I'd been in your shoes," Gwen said, although it was a complete lie.  
  
But she couldn't take that pitiful look on Harry's face.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes and here," Gwen handed the letter from Sirius to him, "he dropped it, the other night."  
  
"But. I thought you didn't trust him," Harry said, looking a little confused.  
  
"I've been thinking about it and I trust Dumbledore and your judgement. So, if you say he's good then he's good," Gwen said, not knowing if she actually believed her own words.  
  
"Thank you. Look, if you've got time. I'll tell you about Sirius," Harry said, pushing the letter into his robes.  
  
"You don't have to," Gwen replied, turning to go.  
  
"But I want to. you deserve the truth," Harry said, grabbing Gwen's wrist.  
  
Gwen nodded and followed him back to the armchairs, where Ron and Hermione were still sitting.  
  
Harry then recounted the events that had occurred in his third year. He didn't tell her anything else, just in case.  
  
After he finished, he leaned back and waited for Gwen to say something. Throughout the story telling, she'd remained completely quiet.  
  
"You've certainly been through a lot," Gwen finally said, "all of you have," she added, looking over at Ron and Hermione.  
  
"I guess we have," Ron said, his cheeks paling thinking about his encounter with Voldermort last year.  
  
"I feel really bad about what happened with Sirius now. He's been through." Gwen said, rubbing her hands together.  
  
"So, you won't tell anyone about him?" Harry asked, a little anxious.  
  
"Sure. I won't say anything," Gwen replied.  
  
"Good," Harry said, letting out a sigh of relief, "can I ask you a question?"  
  
"If you want," Gwen said nervously, she hated questions.  
  
"Why were you so, mad when you saw Sirius?"  
  
"Oh well.I thought he was a death eater and I hate death eaters. I hate all things to do with Voldermort," Gwen spat.  
  
Ron's face cringed at the mention of the name, "join the club."  
  
"You must really hate them. I mean, you said you'd kill Sirius on the spot.," Harry said, he shuddered thinking about anyone hurting his godfather.  
  
"You wanted to kill Sirius?" Hermione said, sounding very concerned.  
  
"Yeah at the time.I thought he was a death eater," Gwen said, rather embarrassed.  
  
"Do you think you could kill someone?" Ron whispered. He swallowed hard and stared at Gwen; she was a merlin, after all.  
  
"I don't know. Probably not. it's just that when I saw him. it just made me want to scream. Knowing what his kind did to my." Gwen stopped.  
  
"Knowing what Gwen?" Harry asked, leaning in closer to her.  
  
Gwen took a deep breath; she'd never told anyone about her mother, since she found out the truth.  
  
But as the words formed in her mouth, they disappeared. She couldn't tell them, not yet anyway.  
  
"Knowing what they did to all those muggles and witches. It makes me sick thinking about it," she finally said.  
  
Well, I'm not lying, but I'm not telling the truth either, Gwen thought.  
  
"I guess," Ron replied.  
  
Gwen was sure, that he didn't believe her feeble excuse.  
  
Then there was a long awkward silence, as everyone tried to find something to say. Gwen was feeling particularly uncomfortable.  
  
She wondered what they were thinking; maybe they were thinking that she would be able to kill someone.  
  
She'd heard the uncertainty in Ron's voice when he'd spoken after she'd given her excuse.  
  
On the other hand, these people didn't have any reason to suspect she wasn't telling the truth.  
  
They wouldn't think that, would they?  
  
But a voice inside Gwen replied, "Yes, they would and you know you could do it." This scared her and she knew, she had to leave.  
  
"Umm. it's really late. I'd better go," she said quickly, getting up and walking out of the Gryffindor house quickly.  
  
"I can't believe that Gwen wanted to kill Sirius," Ron said, his eyes staring into the dying fire.  
  
"Well, I wanted to. when I first knew about him and my parents," Harry answered, replaying what he'd first heard in the Shrieking Shack.  
  
"Yeah, but you thought he'd killed your parents. Gwen wanted to kill him, just because he was a death eater. I mean, ok they're death eaters. but they should be sent to Azkaban. not killed. That is something they would do," Ron snapped back.  
  
"What are you saying Ron?" Hermione said.  
  
"You know about Henry Cadwellon and his disappearance?"  
  
"Who?" Harry said, his ignorance of the magical world coming up again.  
  
"The other merlin," Hermione replied sharply.  
  
Harry blushed at his stupidity.  
  
"What about his disappearance?" she said to Ron.  
  
"Well, my grandfather said that the reason he disappeared was because he couldn't control his urges." Ron answered, fiddling with the end of his robe.  
  
"His urges to do what?" Harry asked.  
  
"To kill," Ron said in a low whisper.  
  
"And you think. Gwen is going to have these." Hermione began, but for once, she didn't have anything else to say.  
  
Ron didn't respond but looked at Harry for an answer. But he was as surprised by the information as Hermione.  
  
"Gwen. wouldn't. she's a friend," Hermione said after a while.  
  
"Yeah, Hermione's right. She's a friend, she's good and you heard her say that she hated death eaters," Harry added.  
  
"Maybe you're right. Gwen is a friend and she's probably stronger than that," Ron said, he seemed to be believing them.  
  
"We should all go to bed," Hermione announced, leaping out of her chair and making for the stairs.  
  
"Yeah," the two boys chorused and followed.  
  
***  
  
In the boys' dorm, as they were getting ready for bed, Harry looked at Ron and saw that something was annoying him.  
  
"Ron, you alright?" Harry asked, pulling back his covers and wiggling into his bed.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ron answered, but his brow was furrowed.  
  
"This isn't about the Gwen thing, is it?"  
  
"No.it's just." Ron stopped and looked at Harry.  
  
"What?" Harry said, he was a little nervous.  
  
What would Gwen think if she found out that Ron thought she was a killer?  
  
"Well. it's just that. I forgot to do that essay for Professor Sprout," Ron said, slumping onto his bed.  
  
Harry laughed, completely relieved. "Don't worry about it."  
  
"But."  
  
"Go to sleep," Harry said, throwing a pillow at him.  
  
Ron picked up the pillow and placed it on his bed, "thanks. My back's killing me," he then leapt into his bed and snuggled down to sleep.  
  
Harry smiled, "Ha ha! Give it back.Ron. Ron.Ron!! GIVE ME, MY PILLOW BACK!" 


	12. Happy Xmas

Chapter Twelve  
  
Gwen was putting the finishing touches to the Christmas presents, she'd brought.  
  
She'd got a sewing kit for Nancy, "How to Make a Meal out of Anything," for Maggie and "Muggle Activities: Fishing by I.Gota Bigun, for Arthur.  
  
There was also a bag of sherbet lemons for Dumbledore, Hermione had told her that he was quite partial to them.  
  
Then for Professor Trelawney, she'd brought a new shawl, which sparkled every time, any light hit it. She hoped that it wouldn't blind people, when Trelawney wore it.  
  
"Jasper!" Gwen called out of the window.  
  
Her owl appeared moments later, waiting for her next order.  
  
"Here, these are for Arthur, Nancy and Maggie," she bundled the 3 packages in a tight parcel and handed it to Jasper.  
  
"Do you think you can find them?" Gwen asked, looking at the owl struggle with the heavy bundle.  
  
The owl hooted and nipped Gwen's finger, to reassure her.  
  
"Oh and when you come back.," Gwen said, shaking a box of owl treats, she'd picked them up in Hogsmeade.  
  
The owl hooted and set off, gripping the presents tightly in it's claws.  
  
"Be careful," Gwen yelled after the bird. She could see him, bobbing up and down from the extra weight.  
  
I'd better give these to everyone, Gwen thought, piling the other presents in her arms. Christmas Day was tomorrow.  
  
Most people had already gone home and the snow was falling thick outside the castle. She hurried to Dumbledore's office and said the password, "Bumblebee," the door slid open and she walked in.  
  
Dumbledore was standing by the window, Fawkes perched on his shoulder.  
  
"Gwen, what can I do for you today?" Dumbledore asked, turning around.  
  
Fawkes flew around the room a few times before settling back on the window still.  
  
"Oh nothing really. but here," she said nervously, placing the present on the desk.  
  
Dumbledore eyed the purple package before taking it and looking it over.  
  
"Thank you Gwen. It was very nice of you. It isn't a book, is it?" Dumbledore said, tapping the package with his knuckle.  
  
"No.," Gwen giggled, "I hope you like it. Happy Christmas."  
  
"Happy Christmas," Dumbledore replied.  
  
She quickly rushed down the corridors and made her way up to the West Tower.  
  
"Professor Trelawney!" Gwen called out.  
  
She paced around the room, looking behind the many glittering curtains, scattered everywhere.  
  
But Professor Trelawney seemed to be missing.  
  
Gwen sighed and walked up to the main desk which Trelawney used and put down the bright green packaged present down on it.  
  
***  
  
Gwen woke up the next morning, feeling worried. Jasper hadn't returned yet and she was sure that she shouldn't have let him gone with that heavy bundle.  
  
As she thought this, she heard a loud hoot and Jasper was there, tapping on her window. She quickly rushed and let the exhausted bird in.  
  
He dropped a large parcel into her hands before swooping down onto her desk and pecking at the owl treats which had been left open.  
  
Gwen grabbed the present, unravelled it and three packages fell out. She then noticed at the end of her bed, there were another 2 packages on the floor.  
  
She picked them up and placed them next to her other presents. She'd looked at them for a second, wondering what was inside them.  
  
When she'd been with Carrie, she known what all her presents were before she'd opened them, they were books.  
  
Everyone just seemed to give her books; no wonder, she'd turned into a book worm.  
  
Annabelle had always gotten clothes and pretty things, probably why she turned out the way she did.  
  
All girly and pretty; Gwen winced and imagined what Carrie and Annabelle were doing right now.  
  
They'd probably be in front of the tree, picking a present for each other to open; Annabelle would always cough if you didn't pick the one she wanted.  
  
One year, Gwen had just asked her to pick which one she wanted but Annabelle had batted her eyelids sweetly and replied that she had to pick for her.  
  
Gwen had picked the wrong one.  
  
She chuckled when she remembered Annabelle's face but decided to put thoughts of her past life out of her head and try and get on with her present one. She turned to face her presents.  
  
First she picked up a blue package with a red bow, she read the card:  
  
"Dear Gwen,  
  
Happy Christmas. I know that you don't have one of these and that you might need one for the future. I made it myself, I hope you like it.  
  
Nancy. xxx.  
  
P.S. Hope that Jasper arrived safely."  
  
She slowly unravelled the parcel and revealed a long black cloak with a deep red lining. She held up the cloak and found that, it was feather soft and light for it's size.  
  
Gwen knew that Nancy was a talented seamstress but this was magnificent. She pulled it around her shoulders and settled back onto her bed, ready to open another present.  
  
She picked up a heavy jar shaped one and tore away the paper.  
  
It was a biscuit jar and Gwen licked her lips, she was a bit peckish.  
  
She opened the jar and reached in but only pulled out a slip of paper. Inscribed on it was Maggie's graceful hand writing:  
  
"To Gwen,  
  
Happy Christmas, sweetheart! I know you may be wondering why there aren't any biscuits in this jar; well first you need to tell the jar what kind of biscuits you would like. All you do is place your hand on the lid and say "Munchius.," and then the name of the biscuit. I recommend the custard creams and the digestives.  
  
All my love, Maggie.  
  
P.S. Is Jasper fine? We were a little worried, when he collided with a tree because he couldn't quite get up in the air. I bet the biscuit jar was too heavy, oh dear."  
  
Gwen glanced over at the owl, who was now, sleeping, having filled up on owl treats.  
  
She smiled and replaced the lid and said in a loud voice, "munchius custard creams," she lifted the lid again and the jar instantly filled with the specified biscuits; she picked one out and stuffed it into her mouth.  
  
It was delicious.  
  
The last package that Jasper had brought was suspiciously in the shape of a book. She picked up the note attached and read:  
  
"To Gwen,  
  
Merry Christmas. I hope you are well. I'm sorry you couldn't spend your first Christmas with us, here at Scarlett Wood.  
  
I hope you like the present I got you; I had one myself when I was your age. It's password protected, very helpful, I've found. You begin by writing in a password and when it's accepted, you start writing down, whatever you like. When you're finished, just close the book. Then if someone opens the book and doesn't have the right password, they will not be able to read anything you have written. Very clever invention, I've always thought.  
  
Alfred.  
  
P.S. I hope we didn't kill Jasper."  
  
Gwen laughed softly and opened the present.  
  
It was a book but it wasn't meant for reading, it was for writing in.  
  
It was brown leather with the words, "Gwen's Journal," embossed on the front. She opened the book and in curvy writing appeared "Password?"  
  
Gwen thought long and hard but couldn't seem to settle on one.  
  
She then started to play with her necklace absentmindedly and it struck her; she quickly scribbled down, "eternity."  
  
The writing faded and the book was blank, ready for words. Gwen decided she would write in it later and closed it.  
  
She swiftly moved onto the rest of her presents.  
  
She picked up a sparkly green box and guessed it was from Professor Trelawney, without even looking at the tag.  
  
"To Gwen,  
  
Happy Christmas. I predict you will need these in the near future. Also, thank you for the present.  
  
Sybil Trelawney."  
  
She opened it and found a box of mystical teabags, "guaranteed predictions every time," the slogan read. She placed it on her desk and thought she might try them later.  
  
The last present was long and thin, covered with bright red wrapping paper. She tore the paper away and revealed a wooden box, with a note attached to it.  
  
"Dear Gwen,  
  
Happy Christmas. Thank you for the sherbet lemons, I was running out. I remember you saying that your quills were constantly going missing; this is unacceptable, how can a teacher's assistant perform well without a quill. I hope you will not lose this one.  
  
Yours, Albus Dumbldore."  
  
Gwen opened the box and found a quill, but it wasn't a normal feather; it was a phoenix feather.  
  
She wondered if the feather had come from Fawkes. She closed the box and went to put it with the rest of her presents.  
  
She stroked the sleeping Jasper and he cooed sleepily.  
  
As she peered out of the window, she suddenly felt very alone, so, she decided to go and visit the Gryffindors.  
  
Who ever heard of feeling lonely on Christmas Day?  
  
She rushed out of her room, then rushed back in and grabbed her biscuit jar. She felt like a snack on the way there.  
  
***  
  
"Gwen!" Hermione yelled, running up to her and giving her a big hug.  
  
"Hi," Gwen asked, taken aback by the cheerful Hermione.  
  
"So, what did you get today?" Hermione giggled. She seemed unusually happy today.  
  
Gwen looked over to see Ginny and Ron sitting by the window.  
  
They were each holding up a large red sweater each, with a Gryffindor lion on it. The red clashed very badly with their hair.  
  
Ron looked up and saw Gwen, he beamed at her.  
  
"Hi Gwen," he said, throwing the jumper onto one of the armchairs.  
  
"Nice jumper," Gwen replied.  
  
Ron groaned and walked up to the pair.  
  
"What's that?" Ginny asked shyly.  
  
"Oh," Gwen said, remembering her jar, "it's a magic biscuit jar."  
  
"I saw one of them in Hogsmeade," Ron said excitedly. Gwen could see the biscuits in his eyes.  
  
"Here, try it," Gwen said, handing the jar to Ron.  
  
He took it quickly and with Ginny, the pair started to ask for every biscuit type thinkable.  
  
"Where's Harry?" Gwen asked, looking around the room.  
  
"He's upstairs in his room.he's been ages," Hermione replied, observing the mad biscuit conjuring scene.  
  
"I'll go get him," Gwen called, walking up the stairs.  
  
"Hmm.ok. hey, let me try," Hermione shouted, walking over to Ron and Ginny.  
  
***  
  
"Knock, knock," Gwen said, rapping on the door.  
  
"What? I mean, come in," Harry's voice said. It sounded a little annoyed.  
  
Gwen pushed open the door and found Harry sitting on his bed, with his back to the door. Lying next to him was some wrapping paper and a bright yellow bow.  
  
"What you doing?" Gwen asked, edging closer.  
  
Harry turned and seeing Gwen, leapt up, "Gwen, I didn't think it was you."  
  
"Well, Hermione had said you'd been ages. so, I thought I'd come and get you. What is that?" She asked, trying to see what was on his bed.  
  
Harry walked to block Gwen's view, "umm. it's nothing," Harry said, his cheeks blushing.  
  
Gwen fell onto Ron's bed and started to laugh, "lying is definitely not your strong point."  
  
Harry ran a hand through his untidy hair and sighed. He stepped aside so, Gwen could see.  
  
There on his bed was an assortment of objects; there was a toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, quills, parchment, blankets and a wide variety of other things.  
  
"What's all this?"  
  
"A Christmas present," Harry replied, collecting everything together.  
  
"For who?"  
  
"Umm. Sirius," Harry mumbled, before trying to wrap the bundle.  
  
Gwen looked at the pitiful scene, "let me do it."  
  
Harry sighed and made way for her.  
  
Gwen quickly started to rearrange the objects in a more orderly fashion, before wrapping the paper around it.  
  
"I think, I'll leave the bow," she said, throwing the sickly thing into the bin.  
  
"Thanks," Harry said, picking up the large package.  
  
"Could I borrow a quill and some parchment?" Gwen asked.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I want to write an apology to Sirius about the other night," Gwen replied sheepishly.  
  
Harry nodded and indicated some quills and parchment on his desk. Gwen picked them up and scribbled quickly.  
  
When she'd finished, she handed the paper to Harry, who placed it with the package. He then picked up a piece of parchment and a sugar quill and started to write a quick note.  
  
When he'd finished, he shoved the piece of paper with the present and then handed the whole thing to Hedwig.  
  
She'd been sitting quietly on the window still; she obviously knew that Harry wanted to send something.  
  
"We'd better get downstairs," Harry said, before walking out of the door.  
  
***  
  
When Gwen got downstairs, she found Ron, Ginny and Hermione, all looking a little ill.  
  
"Here. I've had enough," Ron said, handing back the biscuit jar.  
  
Gwen took it and looked inside, there was one double chocolate chip biscuit left at the bottom of the jar.  
  
She picked it up and put the whole thing into her mouth. It was better than the custard creams.  
  
After conjuring a few more biscuits and devouring them all, she walked over to the rest of the group.  
  
Ginny had gone to lie down; she had said that she was about to explode, due to the amount of biscuits she'd consumed.  
  
After a few minutes, the Weasley twins came in and started to relate their newest adventure to the foursome.  
  
It involved their new invention "Runaway Tongue," a mug of hot chocolate and Professor Snape.  
  
Gwen looked around at all the happy, smiling faces and for once, didn't regret being a witch. 


	13. Contempt Breeds Hate

Chapter Thirteen  
  
The holidays were over and everyone was settling back into school life. It also meant for Gwen that her birthday was coming up soon.  
  
She could hardly wait because when she was 16, she'd be able to get her own wand and finally become a proper witch.  
  
***  
  
"Gwen.you have to," Professor Trelawney replied firmly.  
  
"Why can't you do it?" Gwen asked.  
  
Trelawney focused her eyes onto Gwen's and shook her head, "I cannot. I am far too busy and anyway, I'm sure that he would far prefer you to tutor him. One young person to another."  
  
Gwen swore she heard a faint giggle as she said that sentence.  
  
"But."  
  
"No. You are going to do it," Trelawney said again.  
  
Gwen threw her hands in the air and slumped into a chair and pouted.  
  
She'd been discussing with Professor Trelawney, the idea of her tutoring a student and why she really couldn't do it. It wasn't that Gwen didn't wanted to, she didn't mind in reality.  
  
No, it wasn't that, it was the fact that the student she had to tutor was Draco Malfoy.  
  
The boy that had humiliated her a couple of weeks before.  
  
It seemed that Malfoy's father had not been impressed with his son's last report and so thought he needed to be tutored.  
  
Actually, he just didn't want to have the Malfoy good name, sullied by some bad grades. Mr. Malfoy had come to school, a couple of days before term had started to "discuss" what could be done to improve Draco's grades.  
  
Gwen used the word "discuss" but there had been no discussing in Dumbledore's office, not when Lucius Malfoy was around.  
  
That day she was talking to Dumbledore about Alfred, Nancy, Maggie and when they were coming back to collect her.  
  
But in the middle of their conversation, they'd been rudely interrupted by Lucius Malfoy, yelling that all the school's teachers, apart from Snape, were being biased towards his son and that these could not possibly be Draco's grades.  
  
He had waved the piece of paper under Dumbledore's nose, poking it at him threateningly before he realised that Gwen was seated there as well, witnessing the whole scene.  
  
"Who are you?" he'd asked tartly.  
  
"Oh, how rude of me," Dumbledore had said politely, "this is Gwen Aldan. Gwen, this is Lucius Malfoy."  
  
Mr. Malfoy's eyes had lit up at her name and it sent a shiver down her spine.  
  
"The merlin?" Lucius asked, his eyes focused on Gwen.  
  
"Yes," Dumbledore replied.  
  
"How good to meet you," Lucius said, his tone changing to a softer one. He extended his hand towards her.  
  
Gwen forced herself to smile and took the man's hand, cold as ice.  
  
"I hope to see you in the future," Lucius said, almost sounding happy.  
  
"Gwen, why don't you go back to lessons?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
Gwen took this opportunity to leave and quickly exited. As soon as she'd left the room, she'd heard the distinct noise of shouting, Lucius Malfoy shouting to be exact.  
  
How Dumbledore could put up with such a two-faced man without wanting to throttle him was a mystery to her.  
  
She could see why Draco was the person he was.  
  
"The apple does not fall far from the tree."  
  
***  
  
It was another normal day and Gwen was walking down the corridor on her way to an afternoon divination lesson and she was late.  
  
Lunch had finished 20 minutes before but she'd still been hungry and so had snuck back to her room, to have a biscuit snack.  
  
She'd then become obsessed with trying out a new biscuit creation of her own and had completely forgotten the time.  
  
As Gwen hurried along the corridor, she saw three figures standing over a lone form on the floor.  
  
The three figures were Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, the person on the floor was Neville Longbottom.  
  
She watched the scene for a moment.  
  
"Get up then!" Draco yelled, laughing.  
  
Neville tried to gather his spilled books and quills but Crabbe kept kicking them away and as he tried to get up, Goyle would kick him back down.  
  
Gwen could feel her anger building, the scene reminded of her of her encounter with Malfoy.  
  
She hated people like Draco and couldn't believe that she would have to tutor him.  
  
"Come on!" Draco yelled again.  
  
This time, Crabbe picked up the boy and brought his face up to Draco's.  
  
Draco then removed his wand from his robes and pointed it into Neville's chest. Neville let out a yelp of panic.  
  
"You're a disgrace to the word wizard!" Draco spat and Gwen could see a spell forming on his lips.  
  
"Leave him alone!" Gwen screamed and rushed forward.  
  
Crabbe immediately dropped Neville onto the ground.  
  
Gwen pushed Crabbe out of the way and handed the books to the boy, who gave her a weak smile of thanks.  
  
"Oh look, it's the wand less helping the gutless. How sweet," Draco sneered. Crabbe and Goyle grunted in agreement.  
  
"Oh look, it's the spineless leading the brainless. How pathetic," Gwen snapped, imitating his tone.  
  
Malfoy frowned slightly and was about to say something when McGonagall appeared from around a corner.  
  
"Aren't you all supposed to be in class?" She asked, scanning over everyone quickly.  
  
Neville made a quiet whimper while Draco remained still, trying to think up an excuse.  
  
Gwen saw the expression on Neville's face and decided to save him from yet another embarrassment.  
  
"It's my fault, Professor. I needed to speak to Neville about his divination essay and I didn't realise the time," Gwen said, trying to keep her face still.  
  
McGonagall cast an eye at Neville, who nodded furiously like an idiot.  
  
Please believe me, please believe me, Gwen muttered in her head.  
  
McGonagall sighed and looked down at the floor for a second.  
  
"Very well. You'd better get along to class, Neville. We don't want anymore points taken away from Gryffindor for tardiness. Gwen, you'd better get to the West Tower," with that she fanned them off with her hand.  
  
Gwen grabbed Neville by the shoulder and pulled him away.  
  
She heard McGonagall's voice say in a hard tone, "and what about you Mr. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle?"  
  
They're in it alright, Gwen thought to herself and smiled.  
  
"Thanks, Gwen," Neville mumbled, gathering his stuff together in his arms.  
  
"No problem, Neville," Gwen replied and started to walk towards the West Tower.  
  
"No, you didn't have to.," he started.  
  
"Neville, stop talking and go to class," she said over her shoulder.  
  
"Ok," Neville replied feebly before heading off to his class.  
  
Gwen shook her head and laughed before running up to Professor Trelawney's class room.  
  
***  
  
"I'd better go," Gwen said, closing her book.  
  
She'd been in the library with Hermione, helping her to do some research on spontaneously combusting wands. It was an essay Hermione was doing for the History of Magic.  
  
"Good luck," Hermione said, giving her the thumbs up.  
  
"Thanks, but I'll need more than that.a hammer perhaps?" Gwen replied, she was trying to cover up her nervousness.  
  
Hermione laughed gently and gave her a reassuring smile before returning to her work.  
  
***  
  
Gwen turned the corner and saw the entrance to the Slytherin house and shivered slightly.  
  
It was colder in this part of the school.  
  
"Let's get this over with then," a cold voice said.  
  
Gwen turned and saw Malfoy scowling at her and for once, Crabbe and Goyle weren't with him.  
  
"What, no body guards today?" Gwen asked, smiling sweetly.  
  
Malfoy chose to ignore her comment and walked forward.  
  
"Puritas," Malfoy said loudly towards a stone wall. A door that was concealed in the wall then slid open and he walked in.  
  
I guess, it's now or never, Gwen thought and followed him in.  
  
As she entered she was instantly inspected by the rest of the house, they watched her every move.  
  
Gwen felt uncomfortable and nervous but she didn't want the Slytherins to have the pleasure of knowing that they made her feel like that.  
  
Gwen held her head held and walked with confidence, she even smirked at a few Slytherins that walked past her.  
  
As she scanned the Slytherin common room, she found it to be cold, unwelcoming and a little ostentatious.  
  
What with the large leather couches and chairs and massive pictures hanging everywhere.  
  
It was nothing like the Gryffindor common room.  
  
"Come on then," Malfoy's icy voice called.  
  
Gwen glanced around and saw him, seated in front of the fire, his face hidden half in shadow.  
  
She walked over slowly, feeling her skin shiver as she got closer to him. She sat at the opposite end of the couch, trying to be as far from him, as possible.  
  
They both didn't say anything for a moment.  
  
"Well.," Malfoy sneered. He leaned back into the couch and stared at her, expecting her to say something.  
  
"Well, what are you stuck on?" Gwen asked a little impatiently. She drummed her fingers on the arm rest.  
  
"I'm failing, so I guess, everything," he said, smirking.  
  
Gwen wanted to slap him but that wouldn't have been wise, since she was surrounded by Slytherins.  
  
Then Pansy Parkinson turned up.  
  
Gwen had disliked Pansy ever since, Pansy had accused her of favouritism towards the Gryffindors.  
  
This was after Gwen had told Trelawney that points should be taken from Slytherin because Pansy had purposely spilt milk onto Lavender Brown's homework at breakfast.  
  
She had also threatened to tell Professor Snape as well but Trelawney had said that in her visions, she saw no good could come out of it.  
  
Pansy had shut up then but from that day on her and Gwen weren't on friendly terms.  
  
"Draco," Pansy cooed in a sickly sweet voice.  
  
Malfoy nodded, acknowledging her presence.  
  
She then perched on the arm of the couch and slid an arm around him.  
  
It seemed that she was trying to defend her territory; Gwen almost laughed out loud at the thought that she would want Malfoy.  
  
"So, what is a Gryffindor lover doing here?" Pansy said in an icy tone, that could have rivalled Malfoy's.  
  
"Trying to stop a Slytherin from failing," Gwen snapped back.  
  
The two girls then exchanged cold glances and Pansy walked off but not before pecking Draco on the cheek.  
  
"Shall we get on? Or is your girlfriend going to return?" Gwen asked, removing her divination book from her bag.  
  
"One, she's not my girlfriend and two, you're the one that's stopping us from getting on," Malfoy replied.  
  
Gwen clenched her teeth and slammed her book between them, "fine. Let's begin."  
  
The next hour or so, Gwen worked through the book quickly, stopping and starting when Draco asked a question or didn't understand which wasn't as many times as Gwen thought it would be.  
  
Thus proving that Malfoy wasn't as stupid as he looked.  
  
***  
  
"I think that's enough for tonight," Gwen said, closing the book.  
  
"Good. So I guess I'll see you next week then?" Malfoy asked, getting up and fixing his robe.  
  
"I suppose so. But next week, we'll meet in Professor Trelawney's classroom," Gwen stated firmly.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because if I spend another hour in here, I'll catch pneumonia. Also there aren't so many distractions up there," Gwen glanced over at Pansy, who was seated in the corner and had been observing them for the whole tutorial.  
  
"Scared of Pansy, are we?" Draco asked mockingly.  
  
Gwen's eyes narrowed, "I'm more scared of Neville."  
  
Draco laughed and Gwen saw Pansy pouting in the corner.  
  
"Well, I'm leaving," Gwen said quickly.  
  
She then rushed out of the "ice house" and made her way back to her warm room.  
  
***  
  
"It's not that bad," Harry said loudly.  
  
"What do you mean? It's horrible," Hermione replied indignantly.  
  
"Oh no, I may die from the humiliation," Ron said in a melodramatic voice.  
  
Gwen laughed but was then silenced by a look from Hermione.  
  
"I don't think it's very funny," Hermione continued, looking glum.  
  
She'd just announced that she'd gotten her first 99/100 for potions and she was panicking about it.  
  
"Come on, 99/100, it's just a number. It doesn't mean anything," Harry offered.  
  
Hermione stared at him, like he'd just said the sky was pink.  
  
"Aldan!"  
  
Gwen turned and saw Malfoy coming up to her.  
  
Over the weeks, he'd stopped calling her "merlin" and "wandless."  
  
He had now resorted to calling her Aldan, which was supposedly the closest thing he could be to being civil.  
  
"How can I help you today?" Gwen asked in her polite, slightly sarcastic tone that she used whenever she talked to Malfoy.  
  
He looked at the other three and growled at the sight of Harry, Harry grunted back.  
  
"I need to talk to you, in private," Malfoy said coolly.  
  
"Fine," Gwen said, slightly put out, "I'll see you later," she said to Hermione.  
  
Then she and Malfoy walked off to talk.  
  
"What's with those two, then?" Ron said suspiciously.  
  
"She's tutoring him because he's failing," Hermione replied, her mind was still on her test.  
  
"Oh. Interesting," Ron mumbled quietly.  
  
His mind returned to the other night's conversation about where Gwen's loyalties lay.  
  
But his thoughts were rudely interrupted by Hermione's whinging; Ron decided to think about Gwen and her loyalties later.  
  
***  
  
When they'd turned the corner and the trio were safely out of earshot, Malfoy stopped and stared at Gwen.  
  
"What?" Gwen asked, tapping her foot.  
  
"Look, to be blunt," Malfoy said, "I need you to teach me how to read the future."  
  
"I already.," Gwen started.  
  
"No, not in charts or stupid tea leaves. I want you to teach me, how to do it the merlin way," Malfoy cut in. He sounded a little excited about this prospect.  
  
"The merlin way?" Gwen repeated. She wasn't sure what Malfoy meant by that.  
  
"Yeah.," Malfoy stopped, he could see the confusion on her face, "don't tell me, you don't know how to see the future."  
  
"I do.just not in the merlin way, that's all," Gwen replied. What the hell was the merlin way? She thought.  
  
"Oh, you're useless! I mean, first I find out that you don't have a wand and now, you can't read the future. What kind of a bloody merlin are you?" Malfoy yelled, throwing his hands into the air.  
  
"I don't get my powers 'till I'm 16 and if you knew anything about merlins, you would know that," Gwen retorted.  
  
Malfoy fell silent before asking, "when's your birthday?"  
  
"Why are you so, interested?" Gwen asked, staring into his cold blue eyes.  
  
"It's none of your business. Now, just answer the question."  
  
"Well if you're going not to share, neither am I," Gwen shouted, before turning to leave.  
  
"I haven't finished talking to you!" Malfoy screamed, walking after Gwen.  
  
"Unless you're going to tell me why, we've got nothing to talk about," Gwen replied, not stopping.  
  
"I said, it's none of your business, fathe.," Malfoy stopped, realising his mistake.  
  
Gwen turned to face Draco and saw fear on his face, "scared of that death- eater father of yours, are you?"  
  
Malfoy's eyes filled with rage and they turned an icy blue, "you don't know anything about my father."  
  
"I know enough. I've seen the reports and just because other people can't see it, doesn't change the fact that you're father was.is a traitor," Gwen spat.  
  
"At least, he wasn't a raving lunatic like your mother," Malfoy replied smugly.  
  
"How do you know about my.," Gwen could see the smirk on Malfoy's face and it ripped her insides up and before she could stop herself, her hand went flying through the air, making contact on Malfoy's cold cheek.  
  
They both stood stunned for a minute, Gwen could hardly believe what she'd just done. Malfoy's cheek was bright red and he touched his sore skin, his face blackened.  
  
"I think this conversation is over," Gwen said quickly, walking away. She didn't like the look that was on his face.  
  
Malfoy couldn't believe that Gwen had slapped him; he wasn't going to stand to be treated like that by a bloody wand less girl.  
  
His anger grew and he grabbed her and pushed her against the wall. His hand was around her throat.  
  
"I'm trying to be nice about this, but don't push me," Malfoy said bitterly, his grip tightening slightly.  
  
Gwen's head ached where it'd been slammed against the stone wall and she was scared. Draco Malfoy had his hands around her neck and he was surprisingly strong.  
  
"Get off me," Gwen said, trying to break his grip on her.  
  
He laughed at her attempt.  
  
"If anyone comes and sees you hurting me, not even your father will be able to save you," Gwen said, still trying to free herself.  
  
"Yeah, couldn't hurt the merlin now, could I?" He released her and Gwen slumped against the wall, rubbing her neck.  
  
"This isn't over, Aldan. You'd better watch yourself," Malfoy said cheerily, he stared at her for a few more seconds before walking off.  
  
Gwen shuddered and sank to the floor.  
  
She thought two things, one, what was that all about? And two, Malfoy was going to pay dearly once she had her wand.  
  
***  
  
Malfoy walked into his room and felt the cold wind blowing into it; he walked over and closed his window.  
  
But the coldness in his room still lingered, his smooth skin was covered in goose bumps and he knew why.  
  
"Hello father," Malfoy said.  
  
He turned to face his mirror and the sour face of Lucius Malfoy scowled at him from inside it.  
  
"You're late, Draco. You know, how I hate tardiness," his father scolded.  
  
"Sorry father," Draco automatically replied, his head was hung low on his chest.  
  
"Now, what happened with the merlin?" Lucius asked impatiently.  
  
"She hasn't got her powers yet," Malfoy answered, his head still hanging low.  
  
Lucius Malfoy inspected his son and a wave of suspicion washed over him, "anything else I should know about?"  
  
Draco shook his head furiously and took this moment to look at his father. The man's eyes had narrowed and could have burned holes in him.  
  
"I don't believe you, give me your hand," Lucius said forcefully, putting his hand on the mirror.  
  
"But father, I'm telling you the truth," Draco whined.  
  
"Then put your hand on the mirror, Draco," Lucius said sharply.  
  
Draco couldn't argue with his father and placed his palm on the mirror.  
  
He felt the sharp pain, as the connection between them was made and Lucius probed into his memories and thoughts.  
  
After Lucius had witnessed the encounter between Gwen and his son, he broke the connection and Draco fell back, exhausted and clammy.  
  
"You handled that badly, Draco," Lucius said coldly.  
  
Draco turned his back on the mirror and leant against his bed post for support. He didn't have to look at his father, to see the look on his face.  
  
He remembered the day that he'd handed his report to him and the disgust on his face when he looked at the grades that were written there.  
  
Then the lecture started about the disgrace he was putting on the Malfoy name; that night he'd had no dinner.  
  
The next day after the report incident when he'd come down for breakfast, he'd seen his father smiling at him.  
  
This was when the plan had started, the plan which involved him and Gwen, the plan which the dark lord had thought up.  
  
He would get close to the merlin and find out the extent of her powers and slowly, persuade her to the other side, the dark side.  
  
His father had thought up the tutoring idea and now, Draco had messed it up.  
  
The days before the recent encounter between Gwen and Draco, their relationship had been progressing slowly, mostly due to each party's reluctance to be tutor and student.  
  
Draco had been trying but not enough and Lucius had become impatient with how things were moving and so had forced Draco to subtlety inquire about her powers.  
  
But Draco had not been subtle, he'd let his anger take over.  
  
The anger which was fuelled by Lucius, who constantly berated and bullied him, increasing his son's hatred for the world.  
  
As Draco thought this, Gwen's face came into his head and his anger grew even more, this was all that merlin's fault, if she'd just answered his questions.  
  
Yes, this was all Gwen's fault, not his, hers and next time, she wouldn't be so lucky, Draco thought, rubbing his hands together.  
  
"Draco!" his father screamed.  
  
Draco whirled around and faced his father, he felt strangely strong all of a sudden.  
  
"Now that I have your attention," his father said acidly, "I don't want you hurting that girl again, you know how important she is to our dark lord. Do you hear me?"  
  
"Yes, I hear you, father," Draco replied coolly, his fingers casually crossing behind his back. 


	14. Silence Is Green

Chapter Fourteen  
  
Gwen sat happily eating her breakfast, nothing filling her head except her up coming birthday.  
  
She had pushed thoughts of the incident between Malfoy and her to the back of her mind. Gwen knew she should have told someone about what had happened but something held her back, she wanted to handle Malfoy herself, in her own way and soon she would be able to.  
  
She would be 16 in less than a week and then she could finally be a real witch with a real wand and real powers. Then no one would able to push her around or stand in her way. As thoughts like this entered her head, she quickly ate her breakfast, sipping her pumpkin juice fast.  
  
Funny, it tasted slightly sour today, Gwen thought.  
  
"Quiet, please," Dumbledore announced.  
  
Gwen turned to face the headmaster and the rest of the school followed.  
  
"Now it seems that."  
  
Dumbledore's voice seemed to get fainter and Gwen leaned closer to listen but still his voice faded away. Gwen's head then started to ache and she could hardly keep her eyelids open.  
  
"Miss. Aldan, are you alright?" McGonagall asked.  
  
Gwen tried to speak but no words came out, the only action she could seem to perform was to shake.  
  
As she wondered at this, something wispy and pale blue escaped her mouth; it hovered in front of her, as it did, Gwen swore she heard her voice calling to her, "help me."  
  
But as soon as she'd heard these words, the blue thing flew away, leaving Gwen feeling weak and tired.  
  
"Gwen, Gwen!" Dumbledore's voice said, echoing in her head.  
  
But it was too late, Gwen had blacked out.  
  
***  
  
"I don't think so, the Chudley Cannons are going to be here for a while," Ron said.  
  
"I'll take your word for it, Ron," Harry replied, with a smile on his lips.  
  
"They will," Ron said knowingly.  
  
"I said.," Harry began.  
  
"What's wrong with Gwen?" Hermione asked, turning to face the girl.  
  
Harry looked up and saw Gwen shaking violently.  
  
At this point practically everyone in the hall had stopped and was watching Gwen.  
  
"What's that?" Ron exclaimed.  
  
There in front of Gwen was a blue, wispy smoke-like thing; everyone sat in hushed silence as they watched it hover for a few seconds before zooming out a window.  
  
***  
  
"Hey, look at the merlin," Blaise called out.  
  
The whole Slytherin table gazed up at the girl and surprise fell onto their faces, apart from Draco Malfoy who's remained completely still, a smirk gracing his mouth.  
  
"What's wrong with her now?" Pansy said, trying to sound casual about it.  
  
But secretly, she was engrossed in what was happening to the merlin.  
  
They continued to watch and saw the blue smoke slip out of her mouth and away into the world outside. Draco smiled and almost laughed at what was happening to the merlin.  
  
"That'll teach you to mess with me," Draco said softly, sipping his pumpkin juice.  
  
***  
  
Gwen opened her eyes slowly and looked at the familiar surroundings of the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was standing near by, mixing something up.  
  
".," Gwen opened her mouth and tried to speak but nothing came out.  
  
Gwen tried again but still not a sound was made. A wave of panic hit her and she slammed her hand onto the bed.  
  
At this noise, Madam Pomfrey turned around and walked over to the girl.  
  
"It's a good thing, you're awake," she said quietly.  
  
Gwen looked at her with eyes full of confusion. What was wrong with her?  
  
"I should go and get Dumbledore, it would be better coming from him," Pomfrey said, sensing the girl's bewilderment.  
  
Gwen wanted to call out to her, to ask what was wrong but she couldn't, so she sat there in silence, waiting for an answer to her unspoken questions.  
  
***  
  
Gwen waited for what seemed to be a lifetime before Dumbledore appeared at the door.  
  
"Gwen, I'm glad you're awake," he said quietly, walking towards her bed.  
  
Why does everyone keep saying that, she thought.  
  
"Gwen, you may be wondering why you haven't been able to speak.," his voice wavered slightly.  
  
"It seems Gwen," he continued, "that you've lost your voice."  
  
Gwen breathed a silent sigh of relief, was that all, she'd lost her voice and she'd been worried that it was something important.  
  
"I can see from your face that you don't think that this is serious," Dumbledore said, staring intently at the girl.  
  
Gwen stopped and shook her head. What was he trying to say?  
  
"Gwen, your voice has not only been lost but it is missing. We cannot seem to locate it anywhere; it may be gone forever, which means that you may never speak or.," Dumbledore paused.  
  
But Gwen already knew what he was going to say, if she couldn't talk then she couldn't cast a spell and that meant that she could never become a full witch.  
  
Tears began to form in her eyes and she looked away, she had to be strong.  
  
"Gwen, we're trying to do our best to find a solution," Dumbledore said soothingly.  
  
Gwen took a deep breath and looked at the kind face of the old man.  
  
She might not have her voice but she still had hope with that she squeezed his hand as a silent thank you.  
  
***  
  
Draco collapsed onto a leather couch and smiled to himself.  
  
"What you smiling about?" Pansy asked softly, sliding next to him.  
  
"Nothing," Draco replied coldly.  
  
"Oh Draco.," Pansy said, sliding a finger down Malfoy's cheek.  
  
"Leave it," he replied sharply, grabbing her finger and pushing it away from him.  
  
"Fine. Have it your way," she said huffily, getting up and leaving.  
  
At this moment, Crabbe and Goyle appeared and seated themselves opposite Draco.  
  
"So.," Draco said impatiently.  
  
"She's still in the hospital wing," Goyle answered gruffly.  
  
"Good," Draco said.  
  
"What did you do to her?" Crabbe asked.  
  
"Nothing much, just this and that," Malfoy said, thinking about the night before when he'd snuck into Snape's potion cabinet and stolen the ingredients for his concoction.  
  
"This and that?" Crabbe repeated, a gormless expression on his face.  
  
"Yes, Crabbe. Let's just say that mouth of hers won't be talking back to me anymore," Draco cackled as he said this.  
  
Crabbe and Goyle laughed too but were still unsure of what their leader was talking about.  
  
"But what if they find a cure?" Goyle asked softly.  
  
"Well they can't, not without this," and Draco removed from his robes a small vile, inside was the blue smoke, Gwen's voice.  
  
He tapped the vile and the coloured fog seemed to shrink away from him, "no more talking back now, eh?"  
  
Draco laughed again and the blue vapour sank to the bottom of the tube, as if it understood that it was trapped and there was no hope of escape.  
  
***  
  
Gwen walked the corridors in complete hush; her footsteps seemed to be so laboured lately. Without her voice she felt so helpless and weak, it made her insides crunch up when she knew that she'd never be able to speak again.  
  
Gwen arrived at Professor McGonagall's classroom and entered silently. Inside she found Professor Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore waiting for her.  
  
"Gwen, we were beginning to wonder where you were. How are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked warmly.  
  
The girl looked at him and smiled, nodding gently.  
  
Dumbledore beamed and continued, "good. Professor Snape may have a solution to your problem."  
  
Gwen instantly brightened up and she focused onto the potions master who seemed very uncomfortable with the attention he was receiving.  
  
"It seems," Snape said in a dry tone, "that you are suffering from a "captura vocis" potion. I have the antidote which will undo the enchantment."  
  
Gwen's face burst into a bright smile and was close to jumping up and hugging Snape but decided against it because of the sour look on his face.  
  
"I haven't finished," Snape said curtly, glaring at the girl.  
  
Gwen forced herself to stop smiling so manically and nodded at him, to indicate she was ready to listen again.  
  
"As I was saying, I have the antidote but.it seems that I need your voice as well." Gwen nearly fell off her chair, her hopes having been dashed against the cold stone floor.  
  
She had a million questions to ask but no way to ask them.  
  
Dumbledore seemed to sense this and so said, "I'm not sure that Gwen understands what you mean, professor."  
  
Snape sighed in a patronising manner, "This potion is used to capture the voice of the drinker of it and the voice goes to whoever made the spell. They have your voice and without it, I cannot reverse the potion, I'm afraid."  
  
A mixture of anger and tears was welling up inside of Gwen but she pushed them away and decided to grin and bear it.  
  
"Gwen, do you know who would want your voice? To spite you in this way?" McGonagall asked, her voice full of sympathy for the girl.  
  
One name came to her head Draco Malfoy.  
  
***  
  
Voldemort paced around the hall, his mind on important matters. At this moment, Wormtail entered, his eyes it seemed glued to the floor. He stopped about 10 paces away from his master and waited for acknowledgment.  
  
Voldemort rolled his head towards the man, "what is it?"  
  
Wormtail swallowed hard and forced his voice out, "there.there.seems to be a slight problem."  
  
Voldemort turned on his servant, "what?!"  
  
Wormtail tried to shrink away but Voldemort held him still with his hand.  
  
"What were you saying?" the dark lord snarled.  
  
"The merlin she's.she's lost her voice," Wormtail eventually spat out.  
  
Voldemort's grip on his servant's neck tightened, Wormtail squirmed trying to escape but it was useless.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"It seems someone has used a "captura vocis" spell on her," Wormtail replied, gasping for breath.  
  
"Who?" Voldemort shouted, letting go of the wheezing bag.  
  
"I don't know," Wormtail said, gulping down breaths of air.  
  
"What do you mean, you don't know!" Voldemort screamed, kicking Wormtail in the stomach.  
  
"I mean, I don't know yet," the man said, winded slightly.  
  
"You'd better. My plan will not work if she cannot cast a spell!" Voldemort yelled, pounding his fist against the wall.  
  
Wormtail silently agreed and paused for a second to think through what to do next.  
  
Voldemort took this pause as laziness and kicked him again, "go!"  
  
***  
  
Gwen lay sleeping but not soundly. Her dreams had become troubled and haunted ever since she had lost her voice.  
  
Images of death and her mother kept reappearing, they would collide into each other and then. black.  
  
But in spite of these nightmares they were nothing compared to the ones that she had of Draco Malfoy.  
  
He would appear and try to kill her; his cold blue eyes penetrating her soul. His hands clutching at her throat, squeezing the life out of her.  
  
Gwen would have woken up screaming, if she had a voice.  
  
Gwen bolted up in bed and looked around the room but there was nothing. It was empty apart from Jasper who was cooing quietly in his sleep.  
  
She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and climbed out of bed, making for the door. She needed a break from her dreams.  
  
Gwen walked out into the corridor and felt the cool night's breeze blowing gently through the air. She breathed it in, hoping it would settle her nerves. It didn't.  
  
Her footsteps sounded so heavy on the stone floor and Gwen found herself walking towards the Slytherin house's entrance.  
  
For some strange reason, she was inexplicably drawn towards it; something or someone was pulling her there.  
  
Malfoy sat on the leather couch, next to the fire, black flames dancing in his eyes. He rolled the vile in his cold hands and he smiled.  
  
Then he felt it, the slight tapping hitting his fingers.  
  
He peered down and saw Gwen's voice, smacking itself against the sides of the glass, as if it was trying to escape or at least, get attention to itself.  
  
He held up the tube to his eyes and stared viciously at the blue smoke.  
  
It seemed to sense his presence and quickly stopped, slumping against the sides.  
  
"That's better," Malfoy said, smirking.  
  
But as soon as the words had come out, the smoke started again but with even more vigour. The tapping seemed to echo around the cold room and in Malfoy's ears.  
  
He could feel his anger bubbling within him but suppressed it due to the evil thought that had just entered his head.  
  
He quickly grabbed his cloak which was sitting next to him and left the Slytherin common room with a flourish.  
  
Gwen turned the corner and saw him, the boy that made her blood freeze, Malfoy.  
  
She stopped and watched him with interest.  
  
He was smiling to himself, his black cloak whipping around him because of the wind that was blowing down the corridor.  
  
Gwen pulled her cloak closer towards her, she could feel the cold and wanted to go back to her warm bed but still, she needed to know where he was going.  
  
Harry watched Gwen, he wondered at the sight. What was she doing, following Malfoy around?  
  
He thought it best to keep an eye on them. Thank goodness, he'd felt peckish that night.  
  
Malfoy walked towards the lake and stopped at the water's edge. He pulled out the vile and held it out.  
  
"Meet your new home!" he shouted.  
  
Gwen's voice then started to pound even harder against the sides and Malfoy laughed at it's pathetic attempts for freedom.  
  
Gwen saw the scene play out and watched silently as Malfoy readied himself to throw her voice into the murky waters.  
  
But Gwen's courage surged inside of her and she knew she had to do something. She got up and creeping quietly towards the Slytherin, prepared to grab her voice.  
  
She watched him, draw his arm back, the vile slipping slightly out of his grip.  
  
Then.BAM!  
  
"What the.," Malfoy screamed, as Gwen tackled him to the floor.  
  
As Malfoy slowly recognised the face in front of him, his mind raced to the captive voice.  
  
Two pairs of hands reaching, stretching, longing for the same thing.  
  
But it was too late, Malfoy's long, nimble fingers grasped the prize first.  
  
"Too late," Draco teased, wagging the object in front of Gwen's eyes.  
  
The desperate girl leaped forward, trying to steal her voice back but it was of no use.  
  
"Now Gwen, didn't your mother teach you any manners?" Malfoy said, seeing the pain in Gwen's eyes with every word he said.  
  
Gwen made a final attempt to grab the vile but Malfoy roughly pushed her away, causing her to fall onto the bank.  
  
"Manners. Say please and then I'll give it back," Malfoy said, laughing.  
  
Revenge was sweet, he thought to himself. He was almost sad to have to stop it.  
  
Gwen's eyes started to fill with tears and she tried to push them back but without any such luck.  
  
"Awww.don't cry Gwen," Malfoy said so sweetly, that it was sickly. He then bent down next to her and wiped a tear away from her cheek.  
  
Gwen felt his cold skin touch hers and she cringed. She couldn't stand it, knowing Malfoy had won.  
  
She pushed his hand away viciously and Malfoy grabbed her wrist tightly, staring at the merlin, their eyes meeting, brown seeing blue.  
  
The hate between them was so thick, it was almost suffocating but still, they couldn't look away from each other.  
  
Gwen felt scared, seeing the darkness in his eyes and she forced herself to break his gaze.  
  
Malfoy too, was disturbed by what he'd seen in her eyes, an emptiness and hollowness that seemed couldn't be filled.  
  
"Anyway, I'd better be getting rid of this," Malfoy said loudly, holding up Gwen's voice.  
  
"Wait!" a voice cried out.  
  
Gwen looked up and saw the figure of Harry coming towards them, his green eyes illuminated by the moonlight.  
  
"Should have guessed. What do you want, Potter?" Malfoy spat, holding the vile tighter.  
  
"Hand it over, Malfoy!" Harry shouted.  
  
He'd watched the scene play out and it had made him shake with anger, seeing the torture that Gwen had been going through.  
  
Draco Malfoy was a snake and deserved nothing less than a good seeing to which Harry was quite happy to do.  
  
Malfoy raised his eyebrows in mock surprise and smirked, "ok, Potter. Here you go."  
  
With that he began to hand the vile over but at the last minute, turned and threw it into the lake.  
  
"Butter fingers!" Malfoy screamed, his face turning red from the uncontrollable laughter that had taken him.  
  
No! Gwen yelled in her head and before she knew it, she'd dived in with her voice.  
  
Harry watched Gwen's body splash into the water and disappear under it's dark surface.  
  
Malfoy also seeing what Gwen had done, stopped laughing and both boys stood waiting.  
  
But Gwen didn't reappear. 


	15. Back From The Dark

Chapter Fifteen  
  
"She still not back yet?" Hermione asked, looking up at Harry.  
  
The tired boy shook his head.  
  
It was the next day and still there was no sign of Gwen.  
  
Harry kept thinking to himself, if he'd been quicker than maybe he could have stopped her. But there was no point in wondering about "ifs" now.  
  
What had Gwen been thinking?  
  
"You know whose fault this is?" Ron said, digging his spoon into his porridge.  
  
Everyone turned to look at him, half knowing his answer.  
  
Ron shook his head and flicked his head towards the Slytherin table and a certain pale-faced boy.  
  
Hermione stared hard at the boy and mentally began flicking through curses in her head.  
  
"Malfoy," Harry spat, clenching his fists.  
  
This was all his fault.  
  
***  
  
Draco sat coolly, thinking about the incident at the lake.  
  
He was hardly aware of the glares that he was being given from the Gryffindor table but then again when did he ever take any notice of them.  
  
After he and Potter had stood at the water's edge for 20 minutes waiting for Gwen to come back up, they'd both gone to see Dumbledore and explain to him what had happened.  
  
Of course, he'd made up some cock and bull story about Gwen wanting to meet him at the lake and that he had no idea why she'd jumped into the water.  
  
Dumbledore was sceptical of the story and Harry was quick to point out the truth but still he'd managed to escape expulsion due to the assurance of Snape and his father, who was called that morning that he was being honest.  
  
She deserved it though, Malfoy thought to himself.  
  
But the image of Gwen crying seemed to pierce his heart and he slammed his fist onto the table in frustration.  
  
Goyle and Crabbe who were sitting nearby, looked over with mild concern but seeing that their leader was in one of his moods, carried on stuffing their podgy faces.  
  
***  
  
Dumbledore sat at the head table, thinking about how to proceed on.  
  
Gwen had been gone for nearly 12 hours and he'd been reluctant to send anyone down in case she was to resurface again.  
  
But it seemed that after breakfast he would have to call upon his friends, the merpeople and ask them to search for her.  
  
Also the growing conflict between Gwen and Malfoy was concerning him.  
  
At present it was at a controllable stage but when Gwen had her wand, he feared for Draco's safety, he had heard the stories about the dark impulses that lurked in a merlin's mind.  
  
Also, with these dark forces at work and Gwen being so close to a follower of them, she had a greater chance of slipping towards evil and that was something that the magic world could not afford.  
  
As soon as Gwen comes back and regains her voice, this feud is going to be stopped, he thought to himself.  
  
Now if only Gwen would come back.  
  
***  
  
At that precise moment, no sooner had the thought appeared in his head then there was a slow, squishing noise, just outside the door.  
  
"Who's there?" Dumbledore bellowed and everyone froze, watching the entrance.  
  
The massive oak door creaked open and everyone waited baited breath to see who it was.  
  
A large head poked round the door and everyone recognised Hagrid instantly.  
  
There was a round of disappointed sighs and everyone went back to their breakfasts and morning gossip.  
  
"Wonder what Hagrid wants?" Harry said quietly, still peering at the giant.  
  
"Well come in, Hagrid," McGonagall called, looking a little annoyed at the disruption that the groundskeeper had caused.  
  
"Umm.I need 'ter speak with Professor Dumbledore," Hagrid replied, looking serious.  
  
"You can come in and speak to him, can't you?" McGonagall said, her thin lips crunching up.  
  
"It's just that.," Hagrid started.  
  
"Come in, Hagrid," McGonagall said loudly, indicating with her cat like eyes that she didn't want any arguments.  
  
Hagrid sighed and walked in slowly. As he did it became obvious why he'd needed to speak to Dumbledore.  
  
Lying in his arms, looking pale as death was Gwen. She was drenched, her wet hair plastered against her skin.  
  
The room fell silent again which seemed a regular occurrence ever since Gwen had arrived at the school.  
  
Harry and Draco's eyes went immediately to the unconscious girl and the same thing ran through their heads, I have to talk to her.  
  
McGonagall gasped and stood up quickly, "don't just stand there, Hagrid. Get the girl to Madame Pomfrey!"  
  
Dumbledore also rose and walked quickly, following the large figure out.  
  
***  
  
"Oh I'll need this," Maggie said, grabbing a bottle of bat wings off the shelf.  
  
"We don't have all day," Alfred said, shaking his head.  
  
"Keep your hair on," Maggie said, still gazing at her shelf.  
  
"We're going for 2/3 days not a lifetime," Alfred added, looking increasingly annoyed.  
  
"You have to be prepared."  
  
"We need to leave now!" Nancy shouted, running into the kitchen, her hair blowing wildly.  
  
"Not you too," Maggie said, closing her bag.  
  
"No. I've just had an owl from Dumbledore. It's Gwen," the old woman said, breathing heavily.  
  
Flashes of Victoria Aldan, William Arthur and Simon Lark passed through Alfred's mind and he prayed that the girl wasn't going to end up like them.  
  
He couldn't live through that again.  
  
***  
  
Gwen lay motionless on the bed, dry but not safe yet.  
  
She'd been freezing when she'd come into the hospital wing even worse then when she'd been cursed in the quidditch match.  
  
Alfred, Nancy, Maggie, Dumbledore and Arabella stood round the girl's bed, waiting for something to happen.  
  
"Well she wake up?" Maggie asked, a lump in her throat.  
  
"It's hard to tell since we don't know what happened to her down there," Dumbledore replied.  
  
"Have you not spoken to that merwoman friend of yours?" Figg asked, gazing at the old wizard.  
  
"I did but she will only say that the merlin will tell us in good time," Dumbledore answered, shaking his head.  
  
"How annoying," Figg said to herself.  
  
Nancy watched the girl and saw the small cuts on her arms and face. She could feel the tears building in her eyes and turned away before they could fall.  
  
"How did this happen?" Alfred said forcefully.  
  
Dumbledore looked at his old friend and explained the situation with Harry and Draco.  
  
"And you believe a Malfoy?" Alfred said, disgust in his voice.  
  
"I have no choice. Lucius is still in a position to hurt us so attacking his son is not wise."  
  
Then there was rush of loud voices from outside and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle all stormed into the hospital wing.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" Figg shouted, glaring at the students.  
  
"Sorry professor," they chimed back.  
  
"We just wanted to check on Gwen," Hermione said sincerely.  
  
Harry looked at the girl on the bed and he felt a pang of sympathy for her and more hatred for Malfoy.  
  
"Yes, professor. I wanted to see if Gwen was ok after that night, I was so concerned," Draco said sweetly, smiling the smile of a snake.  
  
The trio all shot a look of contempt at Draco and his blatant lie but still Malfoy remained calm.  
  
"Thank you all for your concern. But Gwen, as you can see is not awake yet so it would be best if you returned to your houses," Dumbledore said softly.  
  
They all nodded and began to file out.  
  
I'm waiting, Gwen, Draco thought to himself. His hand sprang to his wand momentarily; it was itching to be used.  
  
"Are you Draco Malfoy?" Alfred asked suddenly.  
  
He'd been watching the smarmy blonde since he entered the room and it made his flesh crawl knowing that he'd been the cause of Gwen's suffering.  
  
Draco stopped and turned to cast an eye on the large man.  
  
Must be an uncle or something he thought to himself.  
  
"Yes, I am," Malfoy said proudly.  
  
"So you have no idea why this happened?" Alfred continued.  
  
"No, sir," Draco replied, looking as innocent as an angel.  
  
Alfred nodded and then walked slowly up to Draco and leaned in close to whisper, "if I find out your lying, boy. There'll be hell to pay." And he squeezed the boy's shoulder firmly to indicate that he was being serious.  
  
Draco felt fear rise in his throat but held it down, forcing himself to smile and walk away.  
  
"What did you say to him?" Maggie asked, casting a suspicious eye on her brother.  
  
"Just telling the boy a few things," Alfred replied, grinning to himself.  
  
But all were then distracted by Nancy, who had seated herself next to the bed.  
  
She suddenly looked very animated and happy in spite of the tears running down her face.  
  
"Now, now, Gwen," Nancy said, patting the girl's hand, "it's your birthday soon so you'd best wake up, ok?"  
  
The old woman then leant forward and kissed her gently on the forehead feeling the coldness of the girl's body.  
  
An image of golden curls filled her head and William Arthur ran happily through his mother's thoughts.  
  
Nancy could feel herself crumbling and prayed that history was not going to repeat itself.  
  
She couldn't bear it if she lost another child to the dark side. 


	16. Midnight Strikes

Chapter Sixteen  
  
Maggie stood in the Hogwart's kitchen, mixing her cake mixture briskly. Pieces of hair coming loose, as the wooden spoon turned round and round the bowl.  
  
She was making Gwen's birthday cake, ready for the big day tomorrow. Although the celebrations would be sombre since Gwen still hadn't woken up yet.  
  
Nancy and her had been by Gwen's side everyday for the past 3 days but the little girl had remained cold and motionless.  
  
As thoughts of Gwen crawled into her head, tears began to well up in her eyes but she brushed them away fiercely.  
  
Gwen wouldn't have a salty birthday cake.  
  
***  
  
"News?" Voldermort said, tapping his fingers on the table.  
  
Wormtail sidled up to the table, "nothing yet. She's still...unconscious."  
  
Voldermort's eyes filled with rage and he slammed his fist onto the table, causing Wormtail to jump with fear.  
  
"This is not going according to plan!" the dark lord screamed.  
  
"I'm sorry, master," Wormtail said pathetically.  
  
"What do you have to be sorry about? It's not your fault...for once."  
  
"I...," Wormtail stuttered.  
  
"Shut up, I don't care. Anyway, moving onto more pleasant things, how are our guests?"  
  
"They're fine," Wormtail replied, fiddling with his robe.  
  
"Bring them here."  
  
Wormtail scurried off quickly before re-entering with two figures.  
  
Both bound and gagged.  
  
"Carrie, Annabelle, how nice of you to come," Voldermort said sweetly, a glint in his eye.  
  
***  
  
It was quiet and still, as Gwen entered the room.  
  
Where was she?  
  
The room was filled with colourful banners and at the top of the room were two armchairs.  
  
Gwen could already see a body in one.  
  
"Come sit," the body called.  
  
Gwen obeyed and quickly sat down, taking in the other person.  
  
He was an old man, maybe about Dumbledore's age. He had short, white hair which was covered by what seemed to be a red night cap. His face seemed so familiar but Gwen couldn't quite remember.  
  
"So, how have you been?" the old man asked, his face crumpling into a smile.  
  
"Not bad...where am I?"  
  
"Does it matter?"  
  
"Yes. Am I dreaming or am I awake? Where is everyone?"  
  
"Well, you're not exactly dreaming but you're not exactly awake," the old man said, chuckling to himself.  
  
Gwen peered at the man, completely confused.  
  
"Gwen, look there isn't much time. So please just listen," the old man said, suddenly becoming serious.  
  
Gwen felt her head becoming light and the only thing she could was nod.  
  
The old man then looked at the girl and smiled, "my name is Merlin...."  
  
***  
  
Sirius stalked silently through the school, searching for the hospital wing.  
  
Through back alleys and idle gossip, he'd been able to piece together what had happened to the merlin.  
  
She was in trouble and he had to help her.  
  
He didn't understand why, all he knew was that she reminded him of Vicky and that was reason enough.  
  
Victoria Aldan, the only girl he'd ever loved. The only person in the world that understood and now she was gone.  
  
He wanted to cry for her but every inch of sorrow that he felt was instantly replaced by the rage and hate that had consumed him for the past years.  
  
Vicky had been his guiding light and now she was gone, he was left in the dark, feeling it and being it.  
  
As he tried to push his turmoil away, he smelt the merlin and turned into the hospital wing.  
  
The coldness of the room hit him as he transformed back into his human form.  
  
He edged closer to the bed where the girl was lying and the likeness between Vicky struck him.  
  
He hadn't really noticed it that night but now, it was overwhelming. The dark hair, the oval face and the pale skin.  
  
Sirius could hardly take this living memory and leaned in towards the girl, running a finger through her hair.  
  
As he did, he heard in the distance, the toiling of a bell. It was midnight.  
  
Then he saw it, the flickering of her eyes. She was waking up.  
  
Sirius started to panic. He turned to run when Gwen grabbed him by the hand, clutching it tightly.  
  
***  
  
Gwen opened her eyes and saw the outline of a figure in front of her.  
  
Her vision was still a bit blurry but the person seemed so familiar.  
  
Then her eyes and head suddenly became clear and she knew everything. She could see it all, in front of her.  
  
Merlin, her mother, the future......it was all so bright.  
  
But then things started to darken and she saw another face, Sirius Black.  
  
He looked scared and lonely and then.....a surge of pain and fear filled her being.  
  
It was so over powering, she could hardly breathe.  
  
What was happening?  
  
***  
  
Harry opened his eyes and sighed. The Sandman had passed him over tonight.  
  
Then he heard, the piercing scream of someone in pain, in trouble.  
  
It was Gwen. 


	17. Birthday Pains

Chapter Seventeen

Sirius stared at the girl, holding his hand and for a minute, he was frozen, watching Gwen screaming out all the pain he felt inside.

But eventually, he regained his senses and tore his hand away from Gwen's.

However, the merlin wouldn't stop yelling.

It hurt so much, Gwen thought, as she tried to force the pain away but no, it just kept coming, wave after wave of raw emotion kept entering her mind.

More and more images, pictures of tortue and pain kept hitting her, it was horrific.

As Sirius watched helplessly, he heard the door open and Dumbledore appeared followed by the three guardians, Pomfrey and Snape.

Everyone apart from Dumbledore seemed surprised by Sirius' appearence and Snape, particulary didn't like how close he was to Gwen.

"What's wrong with her?" Nancy said, rushing forward.

But as soon as she did, Gwen's screams heightened.

In Gwen's head, more thoughts pierced her consciousness, so much more emotion; it was drowning her completely.

She felt like she was dying and there was nothing she could do.

"Nancy, Sirius, I think it best if you move away from Gwen," Dumbledore's soft voice called.

Sirius automatically moved, joining everyone else but Nancy shook her head.

"I won't leave her..."

"Please Nancy, it's for Gwen's benefit."

The old woman stared at the girl and could see that she was hurting her, though unintentionally and with that, she moved back to join her husband.

As everyone moved away from Gwen, her screams subsided.

Everything was disppearing in Gwen's head, though flickering images still were coming and going like pin pricks on her skin.

Her eyes started to come back into focus and she recognised the hospital wing and the people standing at the door.

She slowly sat up and looked at them all clearly, everyone's face searching her's for an answer.

"Oh Gwen...are you ok?" Maggie said, moving towards her.

"Yes, I think so...but please, don't come any closer...I don't want..." but Gwen didn't know what to say.

How could she explain that she could feel all of it; their past pain, present tortue and future anguish.

"Gwen, do you think that you could handle Madame Pomfrey checking you over?" Dumbledore said.

Gwen nodded, she could sense that Madame Pomfrey wouldn't hurt her as much as the others.

At this, Pomfrey walked towards Gwen and she felt a slight weight fall onto her heart but she could manage, although it stung like hell when the woman touched her.

"Everyone else, please follow me to my office," Dumbledore annouced, ushering them out.

"What is wrong with Gwen?" Alfred said suddenly, as everyone filed into Dumbledore's office.

"Is it not Gwen's birthday today?" Dumbledore answered.

"Yes...her powers," Maggie said, "but still, why can't anyone go near her? I have never heard of this happening to the other merlin."

"Well, a merlin senses a person's future through their emotions and thoughts, they see deep into their hearts and souls and when they do that, they also search through our past, present, meaning..." Dumbledore started.

"That she was feeling all our pain, past, present and future," Alfred finished.

Everyone then fell silent, knowing all the dark secrets hidden deep within them.

"No wonder, she was screaming," Sirius said, shuddering at the thought that Gwen had probably relived his pain from Azkaban.

"But what is to be done now?" Snape said, his voice with a sense of urgency in it.

"I suppose, she'll have to be isolated from everyone; no one is safe around her. Pain is within us all...." Dumbledore stated, his eyes wandering to the window.

"Alone on her birthday. How could anyone bear it?" Maggie mumbled softly, tears welling up in her eyes.

In the morning, the whole school was buzzing with news of the merlin's screaming.

"Did you hear it?" Seamus' voice cried out, "I nearly fell out of bed."

Everyone it seemed had heard it but no one had yet seen Gwen; all the house teachers had advised them to stay in their rooms.

Harry himself had tried to sneak out to see Gwen but had been stopped by McGonagall saying that Dumbledore had made a request, he was to stay where he was.

He had wondered at this but knew that Dumbledore always had good reasons but still, he needed to speak to him about the pain in his scar.

Last time, it had acted up, last year, he had been...

Well, he could hardly think about it without shaking.

"Harry, you alright?" Ron asked, nudging him in the arm.

"Yeah, fine. Just worried about Gwen."

"Aren't we all?" Hermione said, hardly eating her breakfast.

"Maybe, we could see her later?" Ron offered.

"Yeah, maybe we should," Hermione replied, brightening a bit.

"She was probably screaming because she realised that everyone hates her," Pansy snapped, laughing.

All the other Slytherins chuckled in agreement apart from Draco who sat still, deep in thought.

He needed to see the merlin, now she was awake, he had to stop her from telling everyone that he had taken her voice.

But how was he going to do that?

Gwen sat on her bed, completely alone.

She had been told by owl that she would have to be isolated due to the circumstances but if she should need anything, she was to owl somebody.

As Gwen sat wondering what to do with herself, Jasper flew in and settled next to her.

Animals, it seemed had no effect on her, their emotions and futures, less complex and harsh. So hardly making an impact on her at all.

"Hey, Jasper. Did you know, it's my birthday today?" Gwen said, trying to cheer herself up.

The owl cooed and nudged her hand with his head.

But it was too much and large tears started to fall down her face, "alone on my birthday," she cried out before slumping sadly onto her bed.

Harry walked up to Dumbledore's office, "dicky dack."

The door opened and he walked in, seeing Dumbledore in his chair and Sirius...

"Sirius!" Harry shouted, running towards his godfather.

"Harry...what are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to Dumbledore..."

"Yes, Harry?" the old wizard said, sitting up in his chair.

"Last night, I...my scar, it started to burn...like before," Harry said.

Dumbledore nodded, "I thought it might..."

But before anyone else could say anything, there was a loud thump and Corneilus Fudge appeared.

Sirius instantly transformed into a dog and dived under Dumbledore's desk.

"Dumbledore," the minister started but then seeing Harry stopped.

"Yes, minister?" Dumbledore said, getting up.

Fudge looked at Harry for another second before continuing, "I have some news about the merlin. Where is she?"

"In the hospital wing," and Dumbledore began to explain the situation.

After he had finished, Fudge seemed quite put out, "but this is horrible. How can we use the merlin if we cannot go near her?"

Harry frowned, he didn't like the way Fudge said the word, 'use.' Gwen was not an object.

"Minister, I'm sure, something will be worked out. But for now, Gwen must be left to sort her powers out."

"But...but...the..." Fudge muttered, indicating a small wizard beside him, holding a rather large book.

"The book of Esse?" Dumbledore said, studying the book carefully.

Harry listened, completely confused.

"Yes, it opened this morning with the words, 'the merlin has been born.' So I thought it best if I brought the book to her so she could read it..."

"Well, I don't think that would be the best course of action at the moment," Dumbledore said quietly.

"But the book, the predictions, Dumbledore, we need them," the minister's voice had taken on a harder edge, "we do not have enough time to wait around. Come along, Jenkins." With that, he exited the room, making his way to the hospital wing.

"Dumbledore, stop him!" Sirius cried out, back in his human form.

Harry also was confused about why Dumbledore hadn't stopped Fudge.

"Hmmm...as much as I hate to admit it, Fudge is right. There is no time. Sirius, wait here for me and Harry, back to lessons, I will go and check on Gwen."

Sirius nodded and sat down in an armchair while Dumbledore walked out slowly.

Harry completely bewildered at everything stood for a few moments before saying his goodbye to Sirius and making his way to Transfiguration but strangely, instead found himself back at the Gryffindor common room.

It seemed that his head and heart wanted two different things and before he knew it, he'd grabbed his invisibility coak, running to the hospital wing.

As Gwen walked around the room again, she felt her spirits and heart sink, no one had even sent her a birthday card.

It seemed that no one cared.

But as the thought left her head, there was a loud thump and Corneilus Fudge, Jenkins and Dumbledore all strided into the room.

Also, unbeknown to all of them, Harry had snuck in as well.

Instantly, Gwen felt the pains begin to start in her chest and head.

"Miss. Aldan, I am Corneilus Fudge, Minister of the Minstry of Magic. I am here to ask you, to..." Fudge started but before he could go on, Gwen had fallen to the floor.

Although the pain was much greater this time than before and she could hardly move. Gwen didn't feel the need to scream out, she was getting used to it and began to take deep breaths to try and ease the pain.

But more and more images passed through her head, it was like a story, a story about Harry Potter. First, he was baby and then he was a teenager facing Voldermort, once, twice, three times...

"Harry..." Gwen said, getting up, to see if the boy was in the room.

Dumbledore hearing the girl, cast a suspicious eye over the room, settling on a spot near the door.

Harry hearing his own name, wondered why was she calling out for him?

But as he tried to draw closer, he saw Dumbledore staring at him and decided to remain where he was.

"What's happening to her?" Fudge said, his lip quivering.

"She's sensing our pain," Dumbledore said, watching Gwen helplessly.

"Well...what should we do?" Fudge asked, edging back towards the door.

Then suddenly it hit Gwen again, a rush of hate and she yelped; making Harry flinch.

Was she sensing his pain?

Gwen tried to focus her mind and thoughts.

Then she felt something digging into her and as the pictures cleared even more, she saw it was a knife in her side...or was it her side?

"Maybe we should leave," Dumbledore said, indicating to Harry that he was to depart as well, "and also, maybe the book should stay in my care...for now."

Fudge nodded, unable to speak from shock. He made a gesture to Jenkins and the small man stepped forward to Dumbledore and handed him the book.

As the book was passed, Gwen looked up and suddenly felt an inexplicable desire to have it.

Harry watching Gwen writhe in pain and mentally hit himself for coming, he had caused more hurt than help.

"Well...we'd better be going then..." Fudge said, looking very much whiter than before.

"Wait..." Gwen said, standing up slowly, "leave the book."

Everyone stood still, watching Gwen as she walked towards them.

But the pain was too much and she fell back down before reaching them; the imaginary wound in her side was causing her so much pain, she swore that she was about to die from imaginary blood loss.

Dumbledore quietly slid the book onto a nearby bed, "ok, Gwen. If you should need anything, owl me. Oh and happy birthday."

Gwen tried to say something or smile but couldn't; if she opened her mouth, she knew, she would start screaming.

Everyone seeing that the situation was not about to improve, left quickly.

Once outside, Fudge and Jenkins muttered their apologies before leaving for the ministry.

Probably to inform the rest of the magical world about the merlin's conditions, Harry thought.

"Harry," Dumbledore said quietly, as Fudge walked away.

Harry knew better than to run away and removed his cloak.

"I'm sorry, professor. I just wanted to see if Gwen was ok but I just made things worse, I know but..."

"But why, was she acting like that?"

Harry nodded.

"I would think out of everyone, you would understand most of all. Remember how you were able to see and sense Voldermort's feelings and actions because of your connection?" Dumbledore said, indicating Harry's scar, "well, Gwen like you, has a connection but instead of it being with just one person, it is with everyone and especially with people like you with such a tradgic past and dangerous future."

Harry couldn't speak, he hardly knew what to say. For once, someone was suffering more than him, beared a greater pressure.

"Anyway, Harry, I hope you will keep your distance. I don't think Gwen could bear much more from you," Dumbledore said, adjusting his glasses.

"Yes, professor."

"Now off to lessons."

The two then went their seperate ways, both feeling a guilt on their hearts that they couldn't do more for Gwen.


End file.
